Will you be a good coach? 3 ways to tell

   03 Oct 2023
   Paarul Chand
   Great Coaching Practices

Of late, it seems, that wherever I turn, people have added a coaching training certificate.

But, contrary to the ubiquitousness of the coaching degree among your Linkedin contacts, not every leader can be a good coach. Elon Musk comes to mind!

So, what does it take to be a good coach. And I am not talking just about training. But about the inherent personality traits that make a good coach:

Coaches have genuine affection, kindness for people

Coaches need to genuinely like people and are invested in their well being. Good coaches have great empathy for their clients and genuinely want them to do well. And it does not matter if you are an extrovert or an introvert, human beings should just matter to you. This is an often underrated quality in coaches as training and expertise take centre-stage. Its also important to be a kind person. One of the best mentors I have had at work, my editor at TV 18, urged me to take a year off from my busy TV news job to travel and get exposure in just living. It was brilliant advice, worked as I had in TV news from the age of 21, at 24 I was already burnt out. Didn't take that advice and I so wish I had. That's the thing about advice, it can be ignored, but a coach acts as an accountability partner. If I had a coach at that time, I would have been more likely to work out better solutions to tackle early burn out.

Coaches understand and set accountability and healthy boundaries

The purpose of a good coaching session is to serve the agenda of your client. Part of that means, as the ICF coaching core competencies puts it, to "Acknowledge and supports client autonomy in the design of goals, actions and methods of accountability."

Its also means to set healthy boundaries and have focused conversations during the coaching session. It's important not to become a crutch and be always available for the client as that does not enable their self -discovery in realising their own potential. As far as possible, I would also recommend not to add clients as friends on Facebook or follow each other on Twitter and Insta. Preferably, one should also stay away from being a LinkedIn connect, but that can be difficult at times.

Coaches are curious, have a strong sense of personal fulfilment and question themselves

The best coaches I know are very well read and are very keen to upgrade their skills. They also have a sharp interest in current affairs and are updated with socio-economic trends. This allows them to form context faster and better for a client's situation and help them frame insights that may not be instantly obvious. They also question themselves and are open to evolving their thoughts and believes.

So, these are my top 3 reasons on why you would make a great coach. Do write in with your thoughts on what makes a great coach.