How to be a Good Coachee

Do you want to be a better coach or coachee? Do you need help in this area? Feel like the journey is not easy, but worth it? I've been there. It's hard work and takes dedication. You have to keep your eye on the prize, which means being relentless about what matters most to you personally and professionally. If this sounds like something that interests you then read more below!

The journey to being a good coach is not necessarily easy, but to be a good coachee is another thing. At some point, we will need someone to guide us to help us track the path we want, and where we need to go.

It goes without saying that even the greatest coach was once a coachee. After all, we all had to start somewhere and having someone to guide you in the early days will help you on your path.

There’s tons of different reasons for having a coach and you'll find that there’s coaching available to you in any area - whether that's social media, life and wellbeing or business coaching (Hey, that’s me!) it always helps to know that you’re never alone and someone who has walked a mile in your shoes is out there and can guide you in the right direction…

If you know in yourself that you need a coach, or maybe you already have one now, you're there because you know that they can offer you support and guidance with whatever it is you need help with. Sometimes it’s just nice to know that.

If you’re thinking to yourself, how can I better this relationship with myself and my coach then this blog post is for you!

Being in that position before, let me help you and share what I’ve learned during the process of being a good coachee 🥰.

👉 Be open. A coach is someone you look up to for help. But a coach also has their flaws, just like any other human being on this earth. It is important to remember that your coach is there to help you but they can only do that if you’re open, honest and authentic. I know, it is not easy to break down the walls between you and your coach, especially when you are afraid of being judged but you need to know that your coach is not there to make you feel bad instead, they are there to help you boost your confidence, your talent, your personality, and your business. In order for this relationship to work, it's best to start with open communication. If this is something you struggle with, take the time to get to know your coach and their experiences. If after a while you still struggle with opening up to them - it might be worth finding another coach that you connect with. This experience will only work when the relationship between coach and coachee is a positive one, so there's no shame in switching if you feel like it’s not working out.

👉 Be humble. I don't know about you, but I'm a humble person. When I was young and my mother told me to be more humble, it stuck with me for life. When you're humble, you're able to be taught. When someone is humble, they are able to learn from others and grow in knowledge which will then lead them down a path of achievement. If you have a fixed mindset and believe you can’t be taught anything new, then you’re only hurting yourself by limiting experience and knowledge. Remember why you are receiving the coaching in the first place - to learn.

👉 Listen. What is listening? Listening is the key. It’s about making sure you hear what someone else has to say and not just waiting for your chance to respond. It's about really hearing what someone else has to say and showing them that you understand where they're coming from. In order to do this well, we've got to keep an open mind and give up our opinions on things before we hear all of their thoughts out. Even when you are listening to what someone is speaking, you might not be listening to their meaning and what message they are trying to convey. If you don’t understand something and you don’t communicate that with your coach, that counts as not listening because you didn't ask for clarification. Remember what I said in my first point, your coach is not there to judge you or to tell you off - they are there to uplift you. So, always listen to what they have to say - you could learn a thing or two.

👉 Take Feedbacks as positive construction. Feedback, whether positive or negative, can be constructive to your success. I get it, nobody likes to hear when they are wrong. It can be frustrating when someone points out what you're doing is incorrect, but you should NEVER take it personally when you are given criticism. Try not to look at it as an attack on you, but rather look at it as an opportunity for improvement and guidance on how you can achieve something more effectively. If you look at these constructive criticisms as helpful pointers for how to do better next time then it becomes easier. Like I said, a coach was once a coachee and the majority of the time, when they are criticising you on something - it’s probably because they had to learn how to do it the hard way. Positive feedback will always be given but it’s important to not let that go to your head, after all there's always room for improvement 😉.

👉 Have the Right Attitude. Your attitude is critical to the success you will achieve. Don’t go into your coaching sessions with a fixed mindset, instead have a growth mindset. You are there to learn at the end of the day, so make sure you have the right mentality to allow that to happen. That doesn't mean you have to be positive all the time because that’s just unrealistic - but it’s important to remain optimistic, even if you fail at something. If you have the right attitude and you are willing to learn, anything is possible.

👉 Be Committed. How can you expect to achieve anything if you give up the second you fail? The most successful entrepreneurs on the planet failed at first, but did that stop them from trying again? NOPE! To succeed, you need hard work, dedication and the commitment to see it through to the end. I promise that by the end of your coaching you will feel like a new person, reading to take on any challenge.

👉 Practice and Apply. It’s all good and saying you are going to do these things, but without action all those given points above are useless. You must practice and apply what you learn all throughout the process so that you can get the most out of your coaching sessions. Listen to what your coach has to say and follow their advice, even if you feel like it’s not working for you, tell your coach and you can try a different route. Coaching sessions changed my life,it helped me be the person I am today. I followed my coach's advice and was able to improve both my personal and professional life with it. Many people think coaching is all about who is smarter or has more experience, but in reality it comes down to how you apply what you learn 😉.

Before I go, I’m going to leave you with a quote, I’m not sure who said it but I found it online and it really resonated with me:

“It's not just about doing what you're told. But it has a lot about that conversation and striving forward to do better from being able to take that direction. That's my perception.”

... Well, this is just one of the most important keys if you want to be a good coachee, It's not easy, I know. You just gotta trust the process, follow these steps and persevere - you will get there in end and I will always be rooting for you 🥰😁.

Love

Lauren xx