I remember once standing in the lobby of a coaching event and a new coach came up to me and said someday I want to be a coach like you. What did they mean? I wondered to myself.
Yet I get what he’s talking about. Within a few minutes of meeting a coach, I can often tell how I feel about them as a coach. Sometimes I get this wrong due to my own biases and filters, but often I get it right. And it’s not because I’m psychic or incredibly intuitive.
There’s just something about a truly great coach. A way they hold themselves, a way they speak, a way they listen, even just the way you feel when you sit with them.
This is the embodiment of a great coach. It can seem mysterious, but it really isn’t.
What does it mean to embody a great or masterful coach?
Anyone can call themselves a coach. Anyone can ask a few coaching questions. But there’s something that set’s some of the world’s best coaches apart.
- Creativity
- Depth
- Authenticity
- Integrity
- Commitment and the ability to help others commit
- Clarity with finances
- Spirituality or relationship to the divine
- Purpose and vision
- Professional ethics
I didn’t become a coach to get rich. There are easier ways. I became a coach to embody the spirit of someone who changes lives, my own first, and those of people I care about.
Maybe you became a coach for this reason too. If so, stop focusing on the skills, the nuts and bolts. They matter, but the context of your focus matters more.
Focus on embodying a great coach, focus on BEING a great coach.
And in the process, you’ll learn everything you need to do and to know.
Anyone can call themselves a coach, anyone can ask some coaching questions.
But being a great coach, even when you’re walking alone in the woods, or cooking dinner.
That’s rare and really something worth working towards.