Seven Qualities of an Effective Coach

OVERVIEW: What makes a great coach? What do effective coaches do differently? What are the characteristics of a good coach?

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When I first started my coaching practice in the late 90s, it was not a common field. “Coaching” was almost exclusively associated with sports.

Fast forward to today and the coaching industry continues to explode as more people come to appreciate the benefits that having a personal or professional coach can bring.

In this guide, I’ll share insights from over 25 years of coaching.

Let’s dive in …

What is a Coach?

Coach comes from the Middle English word coche, which literally means “a wagon or carriage.”

This meaning is still used today in the phrase “traveling coach.”

A coach carries or transports a person or group of people from a starting point to the desired location.

While the term coach has traditionally been used in sports (team coach), coaching is now used to describe anyone who helps an individual or team move from point A to point B.

15 Types of Coaches

Types of coaches include:

  1. Career coach
  2. Executive coach
  3. Life coach
  4. Personal development coach
  5. Business (entrepreneurial) coach
  6. Voice coach
  7. Leadership development coach
  8. Strategic coach (focus on growth)
  9. Relationship coach
  10. Financial coach
  11. Health or nutrition coach
  12. Mindfulness coaches
  13. Accountability
  14. Performance coaches
  15. Team coach

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but you get the idea.

How Big is the Coaching Industry?

To give you an idea of the size of the business and life coaching industry:

There are an estimated 71,835 business coaching businesses in the United States alone in 2023.1https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-statistics/number-of-businesses/business-coaching-united-states/

There are an estimated 71,000 certified life coaches worldwide.2https://coachingfederation.org/app/uploads/2020/09/FINAL_ICF_GCS2020_ExecutiveSummary.pdf

3 Powerful Steps to Coaching

Coaching is an important responsibility. It can also be a powerful style of leadership.

Compared to a mentor, a coach has greater accountability and provides more active, hands-on guidance along an individual’s journey.

Let’s review the three basic roles of an effective coach:

1) Take Stock

Identify where the individual is now.

An effective coach lives by the dictum “Know thyself.” Only if know where you are can you plot your course to a given destination.

What is your coachee’s current condition? What are their strengths? (Know your weaknesses, but play to your strengths.)

The first step in effective coaching is to assess the landscape.

2) Set the Objective

Determine where you want to go.

Obvious, isn’t it? Yet frequently, this vital step is often overlooked.

An effective coach spends a disproportionate amount of time clearly defining the end picture. “Begin with the end in mind,” as Stephen Covey said in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

A clear vision is paramount to effective leadership in any endeavor.

3) Develop Strategy

Plot the optimal course to your end picture.

The effective coach then supports the individual by guiding them on a pathway toward their vision.

Effective coaches use feedback from the environment and best practices to help the coachee plot their course.

Seven Characteristics of an Effective Coach

Now that we’ve explored the three powerful steps to coaching, let’s review the qualities of an effective coach.

1) Masterful at Asking Questions

The key is to know the right question to ask at the right time. This takes practice, experience, patience, and self-awareness.

Always strive to ask more thoughtful questions to your team members, associates, and clients.

2) Sensibly Direct

A coach doesn’t play “office politics”, crafting his words to elicit a particular response from his team or clients.

Instead, an aware coach offers direct feedback at the right moment. The coach is sensible, however, and uses discretion as needed.

3) Sensory Acuity and Awareness

An effective coach is aware of his environment and those around him.

He watches body language, tonality, and other nonverbal forms of communication to understand what others are saying.

4) Masterful Listener

An effective coach is highly empathic and intuitively connected to his clients and team members.

He listens intently—especially to what’s not being said.

5) Resourceful

Knowing a business-as-usual attitude is an easy way to stifle creativity, an effective coach is constantly looking for ways to elevate those he or she interacts with.

6) Challenging

There’s always room for growth and an effective coach is committed to supporting an individual’s psychological development.

Instilling certainty of purpose, the coach provides meaningful direction.

7) High Integrity

Honesty, trustworthiness, and integrity are the cornerstones of a coach’s state of being.

Only after individuals trust and respect their coach (or leader) will real progress begin to unfold.

If you want to be an effective coach who brings your clients or teams to great achievements, examine these seven qualities carefully.

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About the Author

Scott Jeffrey is the founder of CEOsage, a self-leadership resource publishing in-depth guides read by millions of self-actualizing individuals. He writes about self-development, practical psychology, Eastern philosophy, and integrative practices. For 25 years, Scott was a business coach to high-performing entrepreneurs, CEOs, and best-selling authors. He's the author of four books including Creativity Revealed.

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