What does it mean to be a confident coach?

Be professional, qualified and confident!

When you train with inspired2Learn they want you to leave as not just a qualified professional coach, but also as a confident coach.

It is very important to the company that you feel you have the skills to be able to coach a wide range of people on both an internal and external basis.

But what does it mean to be a confident coach?

I have asked a few of our learners and some of my colleagues at inspried2learn that very question.

What does it mean to be a confident coach?

Teresa is completing her ILM L7 Supervision qualification with isnpired2learn and offered some great points!

• Knowing that you have the ability to support individuals in their (professional) development: being able to rely on your skills, knowledge and experience to help someone else achieve their potential;
• Knowing that you can safely hold the space the coachee needs while they explore their options and experiment with their choices;
• Being comfortable in silence;
• Enjoying each challenge as it comes along;
• Appreciating that working ethically is the foundation of what we do;
• Always wanting to learn more (not just about coaching and supervision);
• Having curiosity around your own self-awareness and where that may lead you;
• Not being afraid to accept that sometimes we get it wrong.
• And, therefore, acknowledging that our experience informs our future – using it to improve our practice.

Annie became a qualified coach with inspired2learn recently and is coaching on an internal basis. She says, ‘Confident coaching for me, means remembering you don’t have to be perfect as a coach, that small steps for your client are still progress and having a positive attitude helps to inspire and motivate them to achieve their goals’.

Antony trained with inspired2learn and now has his own coaching and training business. He says, ‘For me, being a confident coach it is about being able to be completely focused on what the other person is saying and knowing that whatever comes up I’ll be able to support them.  I no longer worry about the topic, but am confident I can encourage and challenge my clients in a way that stretches them but is still safe for them, and therefore supports my vision to make a real difference’.

These are powerful messages from their learners and show how much they have progressed as coaches during the qualification.

But what about the team who all also became qualified coaches with inspired2learn?

Liz says that it is all about trust – ‘Placing trust in the coaching process itself, because it really works.  Placing trust in your client to find their own solutions/answers so that you don’t feel compelled to. Placing trust in yourself that bearing these in mind you’ll be able to ‘dance in the moment’ with your client, by being fully present and adjusting your approach in accordance to their preferences and needs.’

Bill added – ‘Being able to go with the flow and not being slave to a plan. Not being afraid to try something new mid stream that you had not considered before the session and being prepared to stop and re-contract when faced with the unexpected.’

These are such strong ways of showing that you are confident in your coaching and I support all these comments, especially the need to place trust in the process, being able to re-contract when required and as Annie says, small steps are still progress.

And here are a couple of additional comments from the writer:-

• Ignore much of what your coachee is telling you and instead, wonder what is really happening – this will help you to better frame your next question
• Keep it simple – less is more

To find out more about how inspired2learn can help you achieve a qualification, professionalism in your practice and inner confidence, call 01380 888013 or email [email protected]