Core Competencies Required to be a Coach
Core competencies required to be a coach is often thought of as a technique where individuals are guided to focus on their goals and strive to work towards them. Coaching helps individuals to maximize their potential to achieve success that they desire. It is a form of development process in which a person (called a coach) supports a learner (called a coachee) in achieving a personal or professional goal by providing training and advice.
The Core competencies required to be a coach helps an individual to gain self-awareness, clarify their goals, instead of telling them what their goals are, and assist in developing strategies to attain their goals. In short, the coaching program helps individuals to be their best by fostering to think independently. Coaching may sound like therapy, but it is not, even though there are elements of therapy used in coaching as well. In simple words, we can explain coaching as a high-trust relationship formed between a coachee and a coach, using various techniques and methods to guide the learner, to achieve goals and improve professional performance and personal satisfaction.
Core Competencies required to be a Coach
Whether a person is a professional coach or a leader using a coaching approach to help the individual develop, there are several key skills that will help him become a great coach. A good coach sees himself as supporting the process of learning. The exercises, activities and materials used by the coach are designed to help the coached, alter their way of thinking and provide them various perspectives to look at a situation. The coach creates an awareness of potential and possibilities. Successful coaches are aware of the following key skills that are essential to a coaching dialogue.
They are –
Active listening skills
Coaches are good at collecting information and then describing it for the person being coached. Sometimes, they also need to rephrase what the coachee is saying to help them gain insights on their thoughts and words. To do this, coaches require active listening skills. Listening actively means conveying a genuine interest in what others are saying which requires to pace the conversation and to focus.
Powerful questioning skills
Questioning skills is essential for a coach to probe and elicit information. Good questioning skills enable learners to gain greater clarity and understanding about their intentions, goals and strategies. Good coaches never offer opinions, but instead only ask questions to guide the learner through the problem. Asking questions that allow more exploration to occur, gives the learner an opportunity to find answers within themselves, which in turn empowers them. By asking questions, the coach reinforce in their minds that you believe in them and their opinions are worthwhile.
Providing Constructive Feedback
It is an extremely useful tool for allowing self-correction and provides motivation towards agreed goals and proposals. Good feedback skills give time and space to try out things. A good coach will provide an honest and constructive feedback to assist learners which enable the coached to evaluate himself and to self-correct along their path.
Accurate observation skills and coaching presence
Another important skill of a good coach is the ability to step back from the situation and observe. This enables the detection of opportunities for change and development. A coach should be fully conscious, create a high-trust relationship with the client and find ways to work effectively with the coachee. A good coach can observe strengths and weaknesses of the coachee in action and work with them to help the coachee reach the goal.
Unambiguous and Direct communication
Good coaches show excellent communication skills, both verbally and non – verbally. They can clearly articulate and communicate ideas and concepts using a variety of skills that will create a positive impact on the coachee. A good coach often uses analogies, stories and metaphors as effective tools of communication.
Good action planning skills
Any good advice is useless until it is not put into action. He or she must exercise effective action planning skills and co-create the path to achieve the goal. A coach will guide the coachee by asking questions and making them aware and help them arrive at an action plan. He or she need to challenge assumptions, evaluate various options and motivate the coachee to experiment and self-discover in the process. A coach needs to constantly motivate the coachee which can be of tremendous help in translating ideas and strategies into action.
Manage Accountability
It is the ability and willingness of coach to hold a learner accountable for their intentions. For this to be effective, the coach needs to gain the trust and permission of the learner. The coach needs to positively confront the coachee, ask questions to the coachee to hold them responsible and bring the focus back on the action points. This is a key skill to make the coaching journey a success.
High on Ethics
A coach should exhibit high ethical behaviors by following the coaching guidelines as established by any accredited body. A coach should clearly mention the meaning of coaching, its distinction with therapy and clarify the coach and the coachee’s role in the process.
