Why coach?

Intelligent Instructor is proud to have brought together industry experts to produce ‘The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Driving Instructor’.

It has been created in association with Drive.Day, a free magazine offering advice and guidance for those wishing to train and qualify as professional driving instructors.

This FREE 68-page digital magazine is packed with impartial, comprehensive, and detailed information for individuals looking to become driving instructors, and those who have already started out on the road to becoming a professional driver trainer.

Over the next ten weeks, we will publish a small selection of the articles in this guide.

This week, Graham Hooper asks why we coach and provides a few answers.

Why coach?

We look at the benefits of coaching and answer the fundamental question of why you should coach.

As a coach, we develop our own self-awareness and adopt self-reflection, which in turn leads to our own personal improved performance.

Coaching benefits the coach and the coache often equally because coaching develops motivation and commitment for our desired outcomes in life. It helps us gain the interpersonal skills required of a leader and attain that personal growth which satisfies our life.

A coach will develop the next level of self-esteem as they integrate that way of being. Our self belief then grows, enabling us to find the quality of life and work we desire which will then bring about clarity and meaning to our goals. There is a quote from Maslow: ‘What a man can be, he must be’. This quote is about leading us to fulfil our potential.

Coaching improves our communication skills and our relationships benefit.

Coaching also helps us implement and acquire those new skills, so we are supported when we implement change and have help to manage the changes in our life. As we strive to fulfil our true potential as a coach, we become unique and our credibility soars.

“Coaching improves our communication skills and our relationships benefit.”

A coach needs to be human, to inspire others, and to reflect on your own skills and life. These skills, which can be summarised under the fifth essential coaching skill – intuition – are crucial for your development as a coach.

As a coach, we need to become self-aware by noticing what our body language says about us: how would you describe your emotional intelligence; where do you grab your inspiration from; how do you inspire others; how creative are you with your ideas – do you prefer talking, drawing, or playing? The more you become self-aware of who you are, the easier the process will be.

The Skills

Let’s have a look at five skills you need to develop as a coach:

◆ Listening – possibly the most underestimated skill.
◆ Questioning.
◆ Feedback.
◆ Rapport – I have a saying that if you lose the rapport, you lose the learning.
◆ Intuition – spend time checking your gut instincts and seeing how accurate they are. In
the meantime, just notice whatever you can about yourself and your persona.

Targetting success

Coaching skills enable you to be client-centred, which gives you a better focus on road safety and the goals for driver education. This ultimately leads to great driving lessons that make the Part 3 and Standards Check easier.

Graham Hooper
GJH Consultancy and Coaching For Driver Development

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