The ability to accept feedback from your coach and speak
honestly and openly with him or her is absolutely essential.
Your coach must be able to confront you as needed yet remain
non-judgmental. They need to call you out in a gentle yet honest way when they
see you impeding your own progress. A successful life coach walks the line
between trusted confidant and professional consultant. You need to be able to
open up with your coach, but they need to maintain clear boundaries.
Your coach must possess excellent listening skills, but they
must also be able to formulate meaningful follow-up questions to ensure that
you think about your process in the right ways. They are not there to hand you
all of the answers; their task is more acute, and it includes helping you
explore your problems to find the solutions yourself. As you begin your life
coaching journey, look for someone with a complementary communication style. If
you learn best by hearing, for example, make sure you’re paired up with a great
talker. More importantly, make sure your coach knows what your style is and
what you need from them.
Great life coaches also balance making you feel comfortable
with keeping you challenged, and this is largely a matter of personality and
style. Look for someone who makes you feel at ease and safe, but not bored or
unchallenged. Don’t be afraid to follow your instincts in this department,
either. If you just don’t feel good about the match, you are probably right!
All good coaches
should embody certain qualities. These include, but are not limited to:
- Accountable: your coach should feel responsible for your success. You should be able to trust your coach to follow up with you and monitor how well you’ve applied what you learn during your sessions.
- Strategic thinker: You and your needs are unique, and your coach should be able to help plot a path that addresses your limiting beliefs and the outcomes that you seek to achieve.
- Good listener: Life coaching is about you, your goals or outcomes, and your path towards making them a reality. Only a coach who is willing to listen can truly know and understand you.
- Goal oriented: It goes without saying that the point of coaching is to achieve lasting change. How do you know whether you’ve accomplished this? The only way to measure your progress is to establish goals — what we refer to as outcomes —, so it’s important to have a coach who can help you set the right metrics for success.
- Has high expectations: You are capable of incredible things and your coach should recognize that, otherwise that person will not be able to maximize your potential and guide you towards a truly fulfilling life.
- Always up for a challenge: Achieving change and attaining a state that will allow you to do anything you dream of will put you out of your comfort zone. Your coach should always challenge you to change, to do things that you otherwise would not, and to improve.