Life coaching is quickly becoming popular throughout Australia these days, and this is not surprising given the fact that many personalities are consulting with life coaches to put their lives back together or to become better individuals. However, there is a downside to this growing trend. While there are many legitimate and good standing life coaches, there are also those who are there just to make money out of unsuspecting clients.
If you are looking for life coach online, you should know whether or not the one you are planning to hire is worth your time and money. Keep in mind that there are “life coaches” out there who can be considered con artists because they are there just to make money and care less about their clients. In order to draw the line between good and bad life coaches, you should know the characteristics of a great life coach.
A great life coach is someone who genuinely feels for his/her clients
Empathy is the keyword here. A life coach who shows genuine care and empathy to his/her clients is an outstanding life coach. When a coach is empathizing with his/her client, great things between the two emerge. Communication becomes more flawless, trust becomes cemented, and great results can be expected. In life coaching, to leverage solutions to problems, there must be a solid relationship between the student and the coach, and to do that, genuine care between the two must be apparent.
A great life coach is someone who listens
Many individuals who hire life coaches do so because they feel that their friends or family cannot understand them or barely listen to their struggles and ideas. The job of a life coach is to listen to his/her client’s rants, opinions, and concepts no matter how naïve, shallow, or serious they may be. The messages a client relay to his/her coach can say so much about his/her problems, tribulations, and happiness, this is why it is important for the coach to listen and to decipher these messages. When the coach stops listening, effective coaching ends.
A great life coach is someone who’s “been there”
Life experiences make a person wiser. If you are looking for a life coach who can easily give you pieces of advice and tips on how to solve your personal, family, or professional problems, then you would want to work with someone who’s been somewhere near your situation. You would not want someone to coach you based on his/her unproven assumptions and uneducated guesses. As much as possible, go for a coach who has extensive life experiences as he/she can easily lead you to solutions to your problems.
A great coach is someone who is respected in the industry
There are many life coaches in Australia, and finding the one who can serve you best can be quite difficult. Don’t make the mistake of hiring someone who has no little to no experience in life coaching as you will likely to end up wasting your money. You would want to go for someone who is already established and respected in the industry. You may do this by asking your friends and colleagues who have prior experience in hiring life coach. It will also be helpful on your part to check profiles of life coach online, look for their background, client testimonials, and life coaching philosophies.
Choosing a life coach should be done wisely and soundly. Since your coach will be with you in every step of the way, it is important that the one you choose is someone you would feel comfortable with and someone who knows what he or she is doing.