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How to Excel as a Life Coach
Excellence in life and executive coaching is the same as excellence in anything – you must make a decision to learn your craft. Learning is not just reading and studying a manual; it’s actually doing the thing you wish to master. Life coaching is not a spectator sport, it is a full participation, let’s-learn-how-this-works endeavour that can be extremely rewarding.
Great life coaches not only learn through doing their craft, they are interested in and happy for someone else’s success. They are comfortable celebrating achievement, rather than critiquing it or looking for flaws.
Successful life coaches are willing to receive feedback about how they can improve their craft. They keep the loop of learning open, knowing that what they think they know is just the tip of the iceberg, and there is so much more to be savoured. This means they receive feedback from mentors and other coaches as well as their clients about how they can improve their craft.
Life coaches who excel have an interest in personal development. They value the journey of self-improvement and they’re willing to learn more about how and why people choose to do what they do. They are curious about what motivates us and see value in learning more about how to get results.
Great life coaches are excellent communicators. They may have friends come to them asking their advice, and people may find them attractive to talk with. And they’re happy to chat and lend an ear. When they start out in their professional life coach training they may need to learn the skills of coaching communication, and then they apply themselves to learning even more about how to effectively communicate with their clients to assist them to get their desired results.
Great life coaches are persistent and know that it isn’t what you do some of the time that gets results, but what you are prepared to do consistently. They understand that persistence pays, and even when they experience some disappointment, they know that this is part of the natural cycle of life and keep going.
Excellence in a coach is an attitude of ‘possibilities’. Cynics need not apply, as cynicism is simply a fear of being disappointed. Coaches know that because disappointment is inevitable if we have goals, they must stay open to the possibilities of how to turn the situation around.
Life coaches who excel are willing to experience success. They are willing to get over self-sabotage, the fear of failure, the fear of success and every other fear and just have a go at achieving personal excellence. They recognise that extraordinary feats are accomplished by ordinary people making ordinary decisions. Their goal is to be their personal best, and through the journey of achieving this they learn compassion, tolerance, patience, forgiveness – as well as focus, commitment, dedication and passion.
Life coaches who are willing to continue their professional training and seek more knowledge about how to best assist their clients will know that their success is bound to increase. Accredited, professional life and executive coaches are committed to mastery of their craft. They don’t settle for shortcuts in their coaching training, but are willing to apply themselves and learn all they can about human behaviour, personal development, Neuro-linguistic Programming and life coaching.
Excellence in life coaching and executive coaching is achieved not through knowing all the answers but through being willing to find out the answers. The decision to become a life coach is a first step towards the achievement of this. Let the journey begin.
Sharon Pearson is a professional, accredited life, executive and business coach. She is the founder and CEO of The Coaching Institute, Australia’s leading accredited life coach training school, is a published author and an in-demand public speaker and trainer. You can visit The Coaching Institute at http://www.thecoachinginstitute.com.au
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Copyright © 2007 The Coaching Institute Pty Ltd
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Source by Sharon Pearson
