You've experienced the power of coaching – as a kid on a sports team or a young employee learning the ropes. You also know how difficult it can be to coach others. Are you a "bad coach", or is the other person un-coachable? Or both?

I wrote a part one on the habits that successful coaches have. Check it out here. And whether you want to turn the skill of coaching into a business or not, start applying these habits and practices to improve.

Training

Do you need formal training to call yourself a business coach? No. However, the most successful coaches understand the importance of accreditation and training.

The accreditation requires legitimate experience “walking the talk”. Have you helped others overcome barriers and reach their goals in business? Have you implemented systems and trained others on how to follow them? Have you achieved great results with either of these?

Don’t expect to get any clients if you haven’t.

Additionally, you’ll need plenty of coaching sessions under your belt. You’ll find that “being the coach” is a lot more nuanced than being the manager at work or even “being the boss” of your own business. Read here for more on how to “be the coach”.

Without experience and qualification, you’ll A) find it hard to get certification B) fail to make an amazing impact on business owners’ lives and C) learn how slowly a coaching business can grow, if at all.

Superpowers

Many effective coaches have established themselves as industry experts. They've carved out a niche for themselves and are seen as the go-to for a specific industry not generalists.

Our coaches don’t necessarily operate under this framework – they tend to take our full suite of tools and systems that apply to all businesses and combine those with their unique superpowers.

What are the superpowers? They focus less on their perfect niche in terms of demographics and more on coaching style. For example:

• How do you tend to resolve conflicts?
• How often do you “call people out”?
• Do you quickly create solutions or do you like to move more slowly?
• How do you work around “dead end” problems?

Know your “style” regarding these questions – and also know things like DiSC and Meyers Briggs. This will allow you to tap into your superpowers, show them off to the world, and only work with those who need exactly what you bring to the table. This will make getting results for them that much easier.

Marketing & Branding

Successful coaches know the value of the services they provide and engage in efficient marketing as a result. They have a library of testimonials on LinkedIn and their website. They have an audience that listens to their content They network. They have zero fear of putting themselves out there. They understand that learning HOW to start and develop a business takes just as much time, effort, and money as learning HOW to become a great coach.

Our newer coaches never "act" new. After all, they have ActionCOACH systems that get amazing results for clients. Their delivery of these systems sets them apart, regardless of tenure within our brand.

Professionalism

A great coach gives their clientele their all and keep all conversations private. They don't give their clients the solutions. Instead, they enable them to take ownership and responsibility for their actions.

They are emotionally educated and self-aware enough not to project their problems and weaknesses onto clients, cast judgment on them, or criticize them.

Along with adhering to particular norms of behavior, they also recognize that not everyone who they interact with needs coaching. Sometimes, an intervention makes more sense, and a competent coach can immediately see this. Sometimes, the business owner is flat-out not coachable at the moment.

Some of our coaches naturally have these skills traits – some don't. Either way, it will take time, tools, and practice to master the art of coaching – especially if you want to turn it into a career or business.

Think you have what it takes to run a successful coaching business? Reach out to us or take a look at this high-level introduction to our business model.