Think about one of the great coaches you’ve been involved with.  This could have been in sports, at work or at home.  As you bring this person to mind, think about what you noticed about them that made them great in your point of view.  You may have noticed that they were motivational, positive and action-driven.  If so, you’re not alone.  These are the qualities we look for in coaches.

Coaches are motivational.  I’ve heard many times that people can’t be motivated.  All we can do as leaders or coaches is set the stage or the environment so that they can motivate themselves.  While I agree with this to an extent, I also believe that coaches can be motivational by challenging people to get to where they want to go.  They can do this by example or they can do this by helping focus the individual on what they want at work, at home or in life in general.  It’s in our nature to dwell on things as they are.  By doing so, we aren’t doing things to get to the where we want to be instead.  While it may be therapeutic at times to complain about how things are, too much of it is a bad thing.  Coaches can be a great asset to help us focus on the future and get over things in the past. Read more »