What is coaching, and what makes a coach successful?

Coaching works because it’s an analogy that most people can understand. When the word coach was first used in our field and people started to refer to themselves by that, they drew upon athletic coaches and what they do—mold people into a working team. They are able to do this by creating emotions that help people move forward. Successful coaches are able to bring out the best in people by understanding what their unique skill sets and gifts are, how to work with those gifts to create a team effort, and how to create beliefs of success and possibility in the people they’re working with. They are able to lead people to do the hard work that results in success. If they miss on any one of these, their season won’t be as successful.

Athletic coaches help create a set of behaviors that lead to success. Their feedback focuses on what they want, not what they don’t want. So it’s often done in the form of “not this, but this.” They acknowledge what won’t work and point out what will work instead. The most successful coaches are the ones who adapt to the motivational style of their players—those who need to be encouraged and those who need to be called out for not doing their best. Also, when a team is struggling, the coach reminds them of their goals and mission. They help create sustained effort over time.

So what does it mean to be a great coach in our field? It means that you learn to recognize the gifts and skill sets of the people you’re working with. You understand what motivates them. You help them develop beliefs of possibility and beliefs about improvement. And you yourself develop flexibility in your approach to different kinds of people.

It goes without saying that good coaches in our field and on the athletic field are inspirational and hold up beliefs of possibility even when their clients or players are struggling. Just like athletic coaches who over time develop the most effective and efficient ways to practice and prepare for games, coaches in our field learn to ask the right questions at the right time and to help people discover what they are truly capable of.

And just like good athletic coaches, we must learn to bounce back from adversity and see what others call failure as opportunities for deeper learning. As coaches we must learn how to have winning seasons and winning records, because we all know that when coaches don’t deliver, they are fired. A firing in the athletic world can lead to depression and resignation, but it can also lead to resilience and new commitment. We have to discover how to navigate our wins and losses.

Where do you recognize yourself in this description of a successful coach?