Qualities Of A Great Life Coach

To understand what are the qualities of a great Life Coach, we must first understand what it is.  A Life Coach casually is a person or people who we see in events, talking about something, admired, and becomes an inspiration to many.  They talk mostly about success in business or careers, relationships, and even personal growth.  Now you may say “Hey, I can do that!” Maybe. But, do you have what it takes to be a Great Life Coach?   

In order for one to be considered a Great Life Coach, one must have these qualities: 

1.  Living It 

There is this saying “practice what you preach.” Life Coaches practice what they preach.  For you to be considered great, you must be practicing what you preach and is successful in doing so.  A life coach is definitely great if he/she speaks of something he/she is successful in, and, helps others to succeed in that field as well.  For example, a Life Coach who talks about having a happy relationship will only be considered great when his/her relationship is truly happy, and her event/talks inspire couples to succeed in having one too.   

2.  Confident 

Life Coaches seem like experts, but they are not.  There is no degree or course in college that would teach us to be Life Coaches.  However, with experience and for some, a formula for success, one can definitely help us become great too.  Aside from knowing from experience, a great Life Coach must also be able to share with other people confidently this valuable information and ready to answer questions truthfully. He/she should be able to talk spontaneously about the topic or field he/she is talking about.   

3.  Well Informed / Prepared 

Anybody can talk about anything under the sun at times.  But in order for you to be a Great Life Coach and speak to a person or an audience about something, you must be well informed.  You must prepare.  How does one go about preparing for what they are to talk about?  Gather facts, listen to feedback, and be open to suggestions and criticisms.  Like soldiers who are brave enough to face a battle with their weapons, you must equip yourself with the knowledge and understanding of what your topic is.  Not just the definition but the entirety of its scope.  This way, you give yourself space for unexpected questions, reactions, and feedback.   

4.  Maintain a useful Network 

“No man is an island,” as the saying goes.  Same thing with Great Life Coaches.  You are not one in this career.  There are hundreds, maybe thousands out there doing the same thing.  Talking about the same thing.  Do not see them as competition, instead, see them as allies.  It is always ideal to look into the execution of the other life coaches – not to copy but to pick and bring with you the good takeaways of their talk/event.  Support other Life Coaches, give feedback, and ask for it too.  Use the feedback to assess your strong points and come up with other techniques that will improve your game.  Always move forward. 

5.  Document Everything 

In this day and age, there are a lot of ways to document an event or a talk or a session of life coaching.  Take videos, collate feedback or reactions, take note of suggestions, and compile them.  The reason behind this is, this documentation will be very useful to you when you evaluate yourself.  You will be asking yourself “How did I do?” or “How can I make it even better?” Those videos, feedback, and reactions will have the answer – not you.  Your effect on people, your audience is the gauge of your failure or success.  Videos capture the audience’ reactions, emotions, etc.  Feedback lets them TELL you where you made a mistake or what works for them.  Reactions are immediate feedback you see when you are speaking – gives you an idea if they agree or disagree with you.   

7. Grounded 

Just like any profession, one can only be considered “GREAT” when you know your stuff, you are good at it, and when YOU know you can do better.  Life Coaches are there to inspire.  When life coaches talk, people listen.  And at the end of your talk or your event, it would only be satisfying and gratifying when you know your audience believes in you, will take your words, live it, and succeed in doing so.  Now being successful may bring in a lot of things in your life.  You will become rich, powerful, and famous.  With all of these gifts out of your calling, you should still be able to walk down the road as an ordinary person.  Nobody wants a boastful Life Coach.  In fact, being a great Life Coach means you are successful and you want others to succeed – purely out of the satisfaction of helping others get to where you are at.   

There is a Life Coach in all of us.  But it takes all of the above-mentioned qualities to be considered GREAT.