Looking to Hire a Coach? Search for One with These 5 Traits

If you’re considering working with a coach — whether that means working with a remote life coach , an executive coach , or a seasoned career coach — it’s critical you select someone who holds both the appropriate qualifications and the style you need to help you achieve your objectives.

So, what are the essential attributes you should seek out when choosing a coach? To achieve optimal results through coaching, it’s imperative to partner with a coach who embodies the following five traits.

1. Dedication

In the professional sphere, achieving desired outcomes requires that you have unwavering dedication to your role. Coaching operates according to the same principle. To attain results from their clients, a coach must wholeheartedly dedicate themselves to their work, which means they must enthusiastically support your success.

2. Directness

That said, a coach who is dedicated to you and acts as your #1 cheerleader shouldn’t coddle you or tiptoe around your feelings. A proficient coach will offer direct feedback, pinpointing areas where you might be falling short of achieving your goals and providing reasons why. They won’t accept excuses and will (kindly) highlight opportunities for improvement.

This directness can help you identify and prevent self-sabotage. While others in your professional and personal life may not feel like they can be truly honest with you and tell you where you have room to improve, a direct coach can do this easily and with the finesse necessary to ensure you walk away from the conversation feeling empowered.

3. Perceptiveness

To offer precise feedback, a top-notch coach must have exceptional observational skills. Valuable coaching insights are rooted in a coach’s perceptive observations of your life or career, which are based on the information you share. An excellent coach demonstrates strong listening abilities , enabling them to grasp the essence of your words, often delving beyond the surface to discern non-verbal cues and unearth underlying issues that may be hindering your success.

If a coach fails to retain and recall essential details about your life, they might not have the perceptiveness and dedication to your success to help you succeed. These failures can also point to a coach’s lack of organization, which is another important coaching skill.

4. Organization

Like the importance of observation, a coach should exhibit strong organizational skills to harness the details they’ve collected about you into a plan for success. They should effortlessly maintain focus as you track your goals and progress together. You shouldn’t find yourself repeatedly reminding them of your objectives or revisiting milestones you discussed weeks ago.

5. Empathetic

Even while being direct, a good coach is also empathetic. They exhibit high emotional intelligence (EQ) that enables them to comprehend your challenges and offer you compassionate guidance in overcoming your goals. A good coach recognizes the intricacies of working with diverse individuals and can provide you with supportive resources tailored to your unique situation.

Above all, an empathetic coach creates a safe, non-judgmental environment, allowing you to communicate openly with them and optimize the benefits of their services. If you ever find yourself hesitating to share certain aspects of your life with your coach because of concerns about their response or judgment, they may not be the right coach for you.

The Bottom Line

The above traits — empathy, organization, directness, dedication, observation — are all key for a successful client-coach relationship, regardless of the type of coach you choose to work with.

Discover the transformative power of partnering with a coach who excels in these key traits by signing up for a complimentary coaching call. Your journey towards success begins here.