Nine benchmarks for good COACHES.
Leadership makes you lonely? Sometimes.
Following challenges? True, too. And it’s in those moments that we need a best buddy, sparring partner or coach.
“Everyone needs a coach!” … Bill Gates is also convinced of this. (TED Talk 2013 in New York)
In addition to the hard facts, one thing above all counts when choosing a coach: gut feeling. But how can I recognize a “good coach”?
In addition to the “nose factor”, coaching requires the right dose of closeness and distance: as much distance as possible to be able to be on the meta-level. As much closeness as necessary to be in good contact and not “best friends”.
- A good coach asks me the questions I wouldn’t have thought of myself … and always asks one more question.
- A good coach puts his finger right where it hurts and at the same time has a “license to heal”.
- A good coach encourages, shows ways and translates where I don’t understand myself anymore.
- A good coach offers me help to solve my issues on my own and makes me independent of his support.
- A good coach is more than a “one-trick-pony” – his tools and methods are as individual as the coachee himself.
- A good coach offers “guard rails” for the coaching process and makes sure that a coachee “stays on the track”. The coachee alone finds the way to the goal.
- A good coach is an attentive listener – even between the lines.
- And a good coach knows the limits of his effectiveness and knows when a coachee needs to be coached by a therapist.
