4 Steps to Becoming a Great Coach
There are many ways to define coaching. We like to describe it as the process that aims to facilitate a person's true potential.
If you want to become a fitness coach or a personal trainer, you must understand there is a very distinct difference between just telling someone something, and facilitating genuine learning.
Coaches fundamentally work with individuals to improve their own performance: in other words, helping them to learn.
A good coach believes that the individual they are working with always has the answer to their own problems, but understands that they may need help to find the answer.
Coaching ensures the client can give their best, learn and develop in the way they wish.
Can you truly say you work this way with your clients?
Here are some exercises and frameworks we use to prompt learning and action from clients.
Coaching methods
Four key strategies that we have found most effective for the best coaching possible:
Asking Effective Questions
R.E.A.C.H Model
Motivational Interviewing
Goal Setting/Habit Formation
1. Asking Effective Questions
“If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper questions to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”- Albert Einstein
Never discount the power of asking the right questions. Throughout our whole developmental life, we ask question after question without hesitation. Then all of a sudden the questions stop. Why is that?
It can be for a number of reasons:
People think they know enough, when the truth is ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’
People are afraid of coming across as looking weak or ignorant
People don’t want to hear the answers as they may be confronting
Even though asking questions may seem like a sign of weakness to many, it is actually a sign of strength and intellect. Good questions are there to stimulate, provoke, inform and inspire.
The right question/s can:
Form better relationships with clients
Gain trust and honesty with your clients
Achieve more solution-orientated problem solving
Make feedback a positive thing
How do we ask better questions?
Good questions are thought-provoking and open-ended. They encourage the people we work with to explore the solution for themselves.
Here’s an easy 4-step process to asking better questions.
Step 1. Investigate: Open up the discussion. Try to ask more questions so the client can identify specific obstacles they are dealing with.
Step 2. Identify: This is where we as coaches identify the problems. Part of good coaching is listening and understanding. Always repeat back what your interpretation is from what the client is telling you. In some cases, you could be talking about two different things.
Step 3. Validate: Part of being a good coach is understanding and making the client feel comfortable telling you their problems. Acknowledge their problems before we look for solutions.
Step 4: Explore: Now it’s time to look for solutions. After covering the first three steps, you should have a good idea of the issue and be able to explore potential solutions. This is where asking good questions comes in. Remember it's important to not tell, but ask open-ended questions.
Write down some questions to ask your clients. Keep them on your phone or laptop so you can refer to them before you head into a session with them.
2. The R.E.A.C.H. Model
R.E.A.C.H. is a tool we learnt from Firing Up Coaching, which has been developed to have true coaching conversations with people.
The idea behind this framework is to provide everything you need to have a meaningful conversation with a client and to “reach” them.
We have used this model successfully over the years, helping our clients navigate through all kinds of situations from nutrition compliance, to workout consistency, to behaviour change.
R.E.A.C.H. stands for:
Rapport
Explore
Action
Clarify
Honour
RAPPORT
This is the foundation for any conversation with others, and if we do not take the time to establish it first, we can miss having rich and productive conversations with others.
As the old saying goes, “people want to know how much you care, before they care how much you know”.
When you work in a busy environment, one of the challenges is taking a moment to stop and be really present with others. Never underestimate the value of taking that initial moment to connect with someone. Think about someone who really makes you feel welcome each time you meet them. Notice how they build rapport, and model their style.
EXPLORE
Take the time to learn about powerful questioning techniques that really get to the heart of the matter. In any conversation with another person, one great question can be all it takes. For example, starting a conversation with a question such as “If you could change one thing today that would result in a positive change in many areas, what would that be?”
ACTION
Everyone should leave feeling clear about the action they need to take. Make sure when you work with someone, they have a clear plan of action for what they will do.
CLARIFY
Discuss with your client the value of taking action and making change. Clarify their values around the issue and link the change to those values. For example, a parent who improves their fitness will have more energy to keep up with the kids.
HONOUR
The final part of any coaching conversation is to honour the person. Always leave them feeling capable. Give them encouragement and make them feel better for having had this time with you.
Get your clients inspired by simple compliments such as “I know when you put your mind to it you can really achieve great things”. Leave them feeling that you believe they can achieve anything they set their mind to.
R.E.A.C.H. is a simple framework for having a coaching conversation and helps you in a busy environment to remember all the important components of a conversation. You never know, the conversation you have with someone today could be one that starts that cycle of change today.
3. Motivational Interviewing
Motivational interviewing is a technique that empowers clients to make actionable behavioural changes in their lives through an interview-style discussion with their coach. This method focuses on change by exploring a client's need and desire to make changes in their lives, in relation to their goals.
There are many benefits of using motivational interviewing for clients:
Getting clients to look into the future using visualisation
Showing your clients they have the power to change
Allowing them to talk through their struggles
Allowing you the coach to get to know your clients’ thoughts and troubles
When to use motivational interviewing: If a client is dissatisfied with their progress but you have noticed there hasn't been much change in behaviour or action. This can be a great tool for someone to realise they aren't putting the effort in but also understand why.
4. Goal-setting and Habit Formation
To become a coach who is seen as one of the best, you should be very knowledgeable on the importance of goal-setting and how to implement it with your clients.
We now need to look at what behaviours and actions are needed to achieve the goals our clients have set for themselves.
We now need to find ways to positively reinforce these habits and behaviours, to keep our clients conscious and aware of them, day to day, and week to week.
Useful strategies we have found for this:
Non-negotiables checklist: A list of what needs to be done in a week to give it a pass or fail
Habit tracker: Tracking important habits that move the client towards their goal
Check-in procedure: This is a great opportunity to reinforce great habits with visual rewards, i.e. positive feedback from the coach, or colour formatted cells (green = good/reward)
You should now have a great understanding of what separates training from coaching, and how to explore problem-solving with your clients so you can become a better coach.
