Will You Be a Great Life Coach? 4 Required Coaching Skills

Do you find yourself drawn to a career where your passion and purpose can help others realize their full potential or achieve their goals? 

Perhaps you’ve felt an undeniable pull towards a career that makes a real difference in people’s lives, or maybe you’re simply curious about how your innate talents could be used to guide others on their personal journeys. Whatever brought you here, welcome! In the dynamic world of life coaching, there’s always room for another compassionate soul, another listener, another guide.

However, coaching is more than just a job — it’s a vocation that requires a particular set of skills to truly flourish. Life coaching isn’t for everyone, but for those who find alignment with the core skills required, it can be one of the most fulfilling careers out there.

As you consider this potential new chapter, you may be asking yourself, “Do I have what it takes to be a great life coach?” Today, we’ll delve into the four critical skills that are required for successful life coaching. If you’re eager to find out, you can skip ahead to the free questionnaire and work through the prompts. Download your worksheet now. Then keep reading for more detail about each section.

Life coaching is about more than giving advice or providing guidance. It’s a collaborative process between the coach and client designed to tap into a person’s strengths and capabilities.

In this post, we’ll cover the most important natural skills you must have to excel as a life coach. It’s about having the right tools in your toolkit, understanding your unique capabilities, and determining whether they align with the requirements of this rewarding path.

4 Natural Skills That Make a Great Life Coach

Behind every transformational life coaching experience, you’ll find a coach who effectively leverages a specific set of skills. These skills, which go beyond acquired knowledge or learned techniques, are deeply rooted in the coach’s personality and shape how they interact with their clients. Understanding these key skills is essential for potential life coaches who are wondering whether they have what it takes.

There are four core skills that stand as pillars in the coaching world: active listening, empathy, powerful questioning, and action planning. These skills intertwine and complement each other to create an environment conducive to growth, self-discovery, and change.

1. Active Listening

Active listening, in the context of life coaching, refers to the process of fully engaging with the client. It’s not just about hearing the words being said but also interpreting the silence, the emotions, and the subtleties of language and body language. It also entails absorbing their words, grasping the feelings behind them, and responding in a thoughtful and meaningful manner. It’s an important pillar in coaching because it allows the coach to truly understand the client’s needs, values, goals, and challenges.

The absence of active listening skills is a significant roadblock for aspiring coaches. Without active listening, a coach may understand crucial information, interpret the client’s sentiments, or come across as disinterested or dismissive. This can lead to misconstrued advice, missed opportunities for powerful questioning, and a breakdown of trust. It limits the effectiveness of the coaching relationship and prevents the client from achieving their full potential.

But what if active listening doesn’t come naturally to you?

Don’t worry; it can be cultivated with practice and patience. Here are a few tips to refine your active listening skills.

1. Fully Engage: Eliminate distractions and focus your full attention on the client.
2. Non-Verbal Cues: Show that you’re listening through your body language. Make eye contact, nod when appropriate, and maintain an open posture.
3. Reflect: Paraphrase or summarize what the client has said to confirm your understanding and show them they’ve been heard.
4. Don’t Interrupt: Let the client fully express their thoughts before you respond. Take your time filling silences because these can be moments of reflection for the client.
5. Respond Thoughtfully: Use your responses to demonstrate that you understand their perspective.

Active listening is more than a skill, it’s a show of respect for the client’s experiences and perspectives, and it’s foundational to being a successful life coach.

2. Empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of your clients. It involves stepping into their shoes, seeing the world from their perspective, and validating their emotions without judgment. Empathy is a fundamental coaching skill because it builds trust, promotes open communication, and aids in effectively tailoring strategies that align with the client’s needs and experiences.

Clients may feel misunderstood if they sense a lack of understanding or emotional resonance. This often leads to a breakdown in communication and trust. This emotional disconnect can hinder the coaching process, as clients might not feel comfortable opening up about their challenges, fears, and aspirations. Without this critical understanding, a coach’s ability to provide effective guidance and support is compromised.

Despite its importance, not everyone naturally excels at empathetic communication. The good news is, like other coaching skills, empathy can be nurtured and developed. Here are some tips to help you enhance your empathic skills.

1. Practice Active Listening: Give your full attention to your clients. Truly hear their words, understand their tone, and observe their body language.
2. Validate Emotions: Acknowledge your clients’ feelings and show them that their emotions are understood and valid.
3. Avoid Judgment: Keep an open mind and resist the urge to judge or evaluate the client’s experiences or emotions.
4. Show Care: Express your understanding and share the emotional burden without becoming overly involved.
5. Be Patient: Give your clients the time and space they need to express their feelings fully.

Empathy is more than a communication technique; it’s a connection to your client that communicates understanding, respect, and validation. Developing this skill will enhance your coaching effectiveness and contribute to your personal growth journey.

3. Powerful Questioning

Curiosity manifests itself through powerful questioning. These are not merely questions aimed at gathering information but are thoughtfully crafted to spark introspection, generate curiosity, provoke new ways of thinking, and ultimately guide clients toward their own insights and solutions. Asking great coaching questions is the vehicle that drives clients to explore their thoughts, beliefs, actions, and goals at a profound level.

Without insightful and challenging questions, coaching sessions risk becoming surface-level conversations rather than transformative dialogues. It doesn’t allow clients to be stimulated enough to reflect deeply and explore new perspectives. As a result, coaches miss the chance to empower clients to self-discover and self-actualize.

Becoming proficient at powerful questioning takes practice, but here are 5 strategies to aid in developing this skill. 

1. Be Inquisitive: Genuine curiosity about the client’s experiences and perspectives will naturally lead to more powerful questions.
2. Ask Open-Ended Questions: These questions elicit more than a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response. This encourages clients to explore and elaborate on their thoughts.
3. Avoid Leading Questions: As a coach, your role is to guide, not to direct. Avoid questions that imply a “right” answer or push the client in a specific direction.
4. Silence Is Golden: Give your client time to reflect and respond after asking a question. Resist the urge to jump in with another question or comment too quickly.
5. Reflect and Reframe: Often, repeating a client’s statement as a question can offer new insights. For example, if a client says, “I can’t seem to balance my work and personal life,” you might ask, “What makes achieving balance challenging for you?”

Remember, the aim of powerful questioning isn’t necessarily to get answers, but to stimulate thinking and self-discovery in the client. When employed effectively, this skill can unlock the transformative potential of life coaching.

4. Action Planning

Planning action involves helping clients translate their aspirations and insights into concrete steps. As a coach, it’s your job to help them develop a roadmap to lead them from their current situation to their desired future. This skill is critical because it moves coaching from a hypothetical exercise to a practical, results-oriented initiative.

Not being able to plan action keeps coaching sessions stuck in a cycle of identifying challenges and discussing possibilities without moving toward solutions and progress. The client might feel inspired and motivated during the sessions but will be left unsure about how to apply the insights and ideas in their daily lives. This leads to frustration, stagnation, and undermines the entire coaching process.

Fortunately, the skill of planning action can be honed and refined over time. Here are some tips.

1. Goal Setting: Help your clients articulate their objectives clearly. Goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
2. Identify Actions: Break down the goal into smaller, more manageable actions. Ask the client to develop their own actions to ensure they’re invested in the process.
3. Prioritize: Some actions have different impacts or urgency. Work with your clients to prioritize actions based on their effect and feasibility.
4. Address Obstacles: Anticipate potential challenges and plan for them. This includes developing contingency plans and helping clients identify resources to overcome these challenges.
5. Encourage Accountability: Develop ways to track progress and hold clients accountable. This could be through regular check-ins, progress reports, or self-monitoring techniques.

Self-Assessment: Are You Cut Out to Be a Life Coach?

When assessing your skills, consider the core coaching skills we’ve discussed: active listening, empathy, powerful questioning, and planning action. Reflect on your natural tendencies and past experiences. 

Are you often praised for your listening skills? Do you naturally empathize with others’ experiences? Are you naturally curious, often encouraging others to think deeply through your questions? Do you enjoy problem-solving and planning?

It’s also valuable to consider feedback from others. Seek out opinions from those who know you well. They can provide insights about your skills and characteristics you may not know.

If you identify areas of weakness, don’t be discouraged. Coaching skills can be developed with time, practice, and the right training. Remember, becoming a life coach is a personal and professional growth journey. Even experienced coaches continuously strive to improve and adapt.

Finally, assess your passion for coaching. Passion is the fuel that drives the best coaches. It’s what will push you to keep improving, to keep learning, and to persist when challenges arise.

To help you decide if life coaching is the right path for you, we’ve developed a Life Coaching Self-Assessment to guide your introspection. It’s totally free for VIP members, and VIP membership is absolutely — and always — free.