How can trust help you overcome coaching challenges or resistance?

1 Build rapport and empathy

One of the first steps to establish trust with your clients is to build rapport and empathy. Rapport is the connection and mutual understanding that you develop with your clients, while empathy is the ability to put yourself in their shoes and feel their emotions. By building rapport and empathy, you can show your clients that you care about them, that you respect their values and perspectives, and that you are genuinely interested in their success. This can help you reduce their fear of judgment, criticism, or rejection, and increase their willingness to open up and share their thoughts and feelings with you.

2 Use active listening and powerful questions

Another way to foster trust with your clients is to use active listening and powerful questions. Active listening is the skill of paying attention to what your clients are saying, both verbally and non-verbally, and reflecting back what you hear and observe. Powerful questions are open-ended, curious, and challenging questions that help your clients explore their situation, goals, options, and actions. By using active listening and powerful questions, you can demonstrate your understanding and appreciation of your clients, and help them gain clarity, insight, and awareness. This can help you overcome their doubt or confusion, and encourage them to take responsibility and ownership of their coaching journey.

3 Provide feedback and acknowledgment

A third way to strengthen trust with your clients is to provide feedback and acknowledgment. Feedback is the information that you give to your clients about their progress, performance, or behavior, while acknowledgment is the recognition and praise that you offer to your clients for their achievements, efforts, or strengths. By providing feedback and acknowledgment, you can support your clients' learning and growth, and boost their confidence and self-esteem. This can help you overcome their defensiveness or resistance, and motivate them to embrace change and improvement.

4 Set clear expectations and boundaries

A fourth way to maintain trust with your clients is to set clear expectations and boundaries. Expectations are the standards and outcomes that you and your clients agree on for the coaching relationship, while boundaries are the limits and rules that you and your clients follow to respect each other's roles, responsibilities, and preferences. By setting clear expectations and boundaries, you can create a structure and a framework for the coaching process, and avoid misunderstandings, conflicts, or disappointments. This can help you overcome their lack of commitment or accountability, and ensure their satisfaction and loyalty.

5 Model trustworthiness and integrity

A fifth way to enhance trust with your clients is to model trustworthiness and integrity. Trustworthiness is the quality of being reliable, honest, and consistent, while integrity is the quality of being ethical, authentic, and congruent. By modeling trustworthiness and integrity, you can show your clients that you are a credible and professional coach, that you follow the coaching code of ethics and standards, and that you act in alignment with your values and principles. This can help you overcome their mistrust or suspicion, and inspire them to trust themselves and others.

6 Cultivate a growth mindset and a positive attitude

A sixth way to leverage trust with your clients is to cultivate a growth mindset and a positive attitude. A growth mindset is the belief that you and your clients can learn, grow, and improve through effort, feedback, and challenges, while a positive attitude is the outlook that you and your clients have towards the coaching process, the goals, and the results. By cultivating a growth mindset and a positive attitude, you can show your clients that you believe in their potential and capabilities, that you support their aspirations and dreams, and that you celebrate their successes and learnings. This can help you overcome their fixed mindset or negative attitude, and foster a culture of trust and excellence.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?