14 Principles for Effective Coaching: A Guide for Trainers

As a trainer, it is essential to follow certain principles to ensure successful training of your staff. Peter Chee and I have identified 14 basic principles that can help you lay the groundwork for effective coaching. To begin with, it is important to work within the coach's schedule. There may be times when one-off sessions are needed or that a session lasts longer than allotted.

The student has primary ownership of the goal, but the coach has primary ownership of the process. Moreover, a coach is not the expert, but rather a sounding board that can and should reflect to his people what they see and hear (but don't “feel”) regarding their performance in relation to that important end goal. Coaching conversations should flow both ways, with ample opportunities for mutual feedback and debate. Generally, a coaching session is conducted as a conversation between the coach and the coachee (person receiving the training), and focuses on helping that person discover answers for themselves regarding a current or future challenge or objective.

It is also important to remember that coaching consists of detailed and nuanced communication, not homilies and general, quick advice. If the article appears on a website or in an electronic journal, it must include a link to a page on the MentalGameCoach website. Unfortunately, some organizations still consider coaching as a corrective tool, used only when things are going wrong. On the other hand, many businesses employ professional coaches to turn their qualified managers into executive coaches.

To learn more about how you can become a coach, check out my free online training The 7 Pillars of True Life Transformation. In addition, provide business professionals with several training principles that they can put into practice every day. There's no single training model that works for everyone every time, but you should explore what's available. He has been honored several times in the Hall of Fame as an athlete, coach and former school student, award-winning academic athlete, author of published books and author of articles, and has coached at the highest levels of professional sports in the major leagues, college athletics and American companies. Furthermore, do whatever is necessary with this person to ensure that they are getting closer to their goals and maintaining the right level of trust, commitment, action and integrity needed to move the coaching association forward.

Maintain the right level of trust between you and your coachee and ensure that your coachee is taking action towards their goals.