What makes a great coach?

Alongside the well documented traits of a good coach (eg positive, observant, goal-oriented, trusting etc etc ) and skills of a good coach (active listening, emotional intelligence, empathy etc etc), these are the things that I look for in a ‘great’ coach.

More than just a coaching qualification

I’ve met well over 500 coaches in my career. On paper some looked amazing but sadly, over a coffee, turned out to be bitterly disappointing. Putting the ‘art of coaching’ itself to one side, I was amazed at the lack of impact some coaches had, the inability to engage in a conversation and the size of some of the egos!

A coaching provider needs to feel comfortable that any coach they put forward is not only great at doing the coaching, but is someone who has gravitas, is engaging and inspiring. Someone that will impress the coachee, their line manager and key stakeholders.

Of course the credentials of a professional coach are a pre-requisite – robust qualification, accreditation and external supervision. But like teachers, trainers and even leaders, mastery in the profession takes more than a Diploma. All the qualifications in the world doesn’t necessarily make a great coach.

Coaching ‘grey hair’

I know some coaching providers who don’t like their coaches coaching for someone else. I find this strange. When I look for a ‘great’ coach, coaching experience is certainly one of the important factors – the more coaching hours and the more organisations and sectors the coach has worked in the better. I believe a senior coach needs to have over 10,000 hours of coaching behind them – coaching ‘grey hair’ metaphorically speaking, I don’t mind where or how they built up these coaching hours.

Specialist versus Generalist

Executive coaches are, with all due respect, ‘generalists’. All executive coaches will coach on topics as widespread as leadership, resilience, career navigation, transition, wellness and conflict. They will bring with them a toolkit, hopefully, in all those areas which is exactly what makes them so good – their versatility to lend support with whatever comes up in the sessions.

But there are occasions when a more specialist approach is called for. A recent brief I took, called upon a coach to help re-build a CIO’s resilience. He had been battered and bruised by some recent events and left feeling hurt, demotivated and negative.

Although most executive coaches will undoubtedly be able to support here, this focused brief called for a resilience specialist who would bring a much deeper and broader toolkit and much more experience in dealing with individuals facing similar issues. There are qualified, experienced executive coaches who have chosen to specialist in certain areas and we should all have them in our cadre.

‘Been there’

In ‘theory’ a coach does not need to have any relatable experience to that of the coachee in order to ‘coach’. They are the coaches that offer ‘content free coaching’, often termed the ‘purist approach’.

When coaching at senior levels though, the reality is that commercial experience does matter and it does help achieve better outcomes. A coach needs to be able to wear a number of different hats – a coach, a mentor, a consultant, a confidante. The ability to understand, really understand, what it feels like to be in that type of role, the ability to relate to the pressures, to understand the politics as well as the jargon. The coach needs to sit round the table ‘as an equal’ and have the presence and confidence to be prepared (with permission) to challenge, to offer an opinion and to work together through various scenarios.

I once pitched for the project of finding a coach for 5 MD’s in a professional services firm. I knew we had coaches who had relevant commercial backgrounds and who would be ideal, and I launched into my explanation of the combined coach / mentor / consultant approach. What I hadn’t factored in was that a key member of the clients panel was a newly qualified coach who was horrified at the concept of a coach being, at times, directive. “That’s not coaching” I recall her saying. I tried to explain that at this level, that’s exactly the type of support needed and it didn’t matter what we called it. Needless to say we didn’t win the work and I can’t help but think how those MD’s found their experience of working with a purist coach.

One coach is not enough

Often coaching briefs are complicated. They can combine a need to change leadership behaviour, with the need to develop some specific skills and occasionally, with someone perhaps taking on a C-suite role for the first time, a need for some wisdom from someone who has shared the same journey before.

If we are very lucky we might have one ‘person’ who can bring all that expertise but often that ideal ‘person’ just doesn’t exist. So we need to assess what’s priority and potentially create a bespoke programme that involves input from more than one coach / mentor / trainer. Let’s not assume executive coaches bring all the answers and let’s not be afraid to suggest a combination of coaches is the answer.