Real Coaches

Real coaches…

• Lead by example
• Impart experience
• Don’t need to lay claim to the victories of their students
• Don’t need to be right
• Choose effectiveness over convention
• Challenge everything, including their own beliefs and methods
• Learn from their students
• Constantly study and constantly train
• See themselves not as coaches but as students of life
• Accept that they are giving their opinion not stating facts
• Teach their students to think for themselves
• Teach their students to challenge anything they don’t understand or agree with
• Are infinitely patient
• Have passion and energy
• Are clear about their own goals and those of the people they train
• Are multidimensional in their skills
• Are not attached to their students or their performances
• Do not coach to gain energy from intimidating their students either physically or mentally
• Are emotionally self-contained
• Don’t need to coach to feel fulfilled
• Are chameleons, infinitely adaptable to a variety of students and circumstances
• Are able to ‘sack’ students without hesitation if deemed necessary for the benefit of the student
• Listen to their students
• Listen to themselves
• Have highly developed intuition
• Are infinitely creative when seeking an outcome
• Coach without coaching

Feel free to add or subtract from the list as you see fit.