What makes a professional coach?

MyCoachingToolkit blog - Professional Coaching

Our vision

We believe coaching is a results-oriented, bespoke approach designed to make individuals, teams and organizations more effective. In our experience, it not only increases individual and collective effectiveness but also encourages people to develop new skills and abilities.

 

Your role

As a coach you need to quickly focus in on the key information relevant to the issue at hand. This fresh insight will unleash the creativity needed to search for the right answers and help the coachee gain a sense of distance and perspective. It can also help align their personal and professional values to address any behavior that could be at the heart of the problem.

You will fully succeed as a coach if you are able to create an atmosphere of trust and collaboration within your coaching sessions. This is normally based on the fundamental belief that the coachee can find their own solution, with help from you to identify and overcome the obstacles that hinder their progress and any success.

In your role as coach, you will:
Encourage – to get the coachee out of their comfort zone and explore new behavior
Empower – so they can find their own solution
Stimulate – their personal and professional development

 

How to select a professional coach

Working as a coach can be a valuable and rewarding experience, so selecting the right one is really important. To ensure you are at the top of that list, here are some of the most popular points companies and individuals consider before selecting a professional coach:

  • Membership of a professional coaching organization or professional coaching body
  • Credentials and industry experience
  • Coaching specific qualifications and diplomas
  • Experience mentoring or supervising other professional coaches
  • Training and experience using a variety of coaching tools and tests
  • An academic diploma or other professional qualification
  • Referrals and testimonials from past clients and/or colleagues in the coaching field
  • Staying updated on and involved in the development and testing of new coaching methods or personality analysis and tests

Other considerations:

Make sure you highlight any ongoing training and development, as it is another important indicator used. In our experience, the minimum prerequisites for professional coaching would be:

  • Theoretical and practical training of more than 250 hours (face-to-face) over more than 6 months (usually between 12 and 18 months)
  • Ideally a minimum of 5 trainers from different backgrounds and specializations
  • Real and regular opportunities to co-coach during the training
  • Final exam, dissertation and presentation of a certification or diploma

Outside of training and development, it is also important to show you have had a range of life experiences. Here are some of the questions you may want to prepare for:

  • Have you completed an internships and what lessons did you learned from it?
  • Have you ever had therapy and what did you learn about yourself?
  • What is you coaching style and how are you developing it?

 

If you would like to learn more, download our e-book – The Coaching Manual. You can also visit our on-line shop and review the full range of e-books and kits now available, or sign up for our newsletter.

Please note – Our materials can only be copied and distributed, if you include a reference and link to the original source: (cc) MyCoachingToolkit.com – 2020

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