The Key to Building a Foundation and a Future as a Coach

by: Lara Harrington, PN1-NC, SSRC

Coaching can be an incredibly rewarding experience for both the client and the coach. There are, however, some key aspects to being a great coach that far surpass the love of fitness and your own personal fitness journey.

A great coach must indeed love fitness, but more importantly, love fitness as a tool to help people thrive. As a coach, fitness is your craft. Honing this craft is your labor of love.

There are multiple factors that come together to create a great coach. The most obvious of these is to walk the talk. Live the optimal life you illustrate to your clients. Lift weights, hydrate, sleep, eat your veggies, and love the skin you’re in. Be a product of the product. Your knowledge and passion should ooze from you so much that it inspires your clients.

Contributing to a positive environment is a simple mindset that can get lost in our own ups and downs. If you’re in a room where the vibe is off, consider how much you’re either contributing to that or what you can do to shift it. It can be very easy to commiserate but it’s much more honorable to turn things around.

It’s true that we learn best by teaching. As a coach, you are always teaching, so it’s important that you are consistently seeking those teaching moments. The best way to do this is to be relentless in your own pursuit of knowledge. Constantly be learning and sharing. The more you put your education to practice, the more teaching moments you will discover, and the better you’ll be at your craft.

In any client/coach relationship, retention is key. How do you keep clients coming back to you? You build trust. The two most important factors in building trust is to have (and show) empathy AND authority. Your clients will give you every excuse there is. It’s your job to make them feel like they’re being heard without losing your authority. Know when to stand firm and when to let go a little. Every personality will be different and you will need to learn how to pivot for each one you face.

Patience will be key in building your relationship with clients. You must allow them to be who they are in order for you to impact them and build trust. The majority of clients you’ll see will not fit an ‘ideal client’ profile. The better you become at nurturing various types of personalities, the more success you’ll have in your sessions.

A large part of building trust is simply in reliability. Being timely, consistent, and efficient goes a long way for strengthening the connection between you and your clients. It is also vital for building a connection between you and your team members. This being said, if you can’t work well with your teammates, how can you work well with your clients? The relationship with your team requires the same level of attention as the relationship with your clients.

These standards should be a regular part of your inner dialogue and are key to building a foundation and a future as a coach.