Module 3 : The Different

Types of Life Coaching and

the Attributes of a
Successful Life Coach

Objectives
Different types of life coaching and what they involve
How to choose the right type of life coaching as a
career for yourself
Group coaching, confidence coaching, wellness coaching,
relationship coaching and personal coaching
Important attributes of an effective life coach

The Different Types of Life Coaching and

the Attributes of a Successful Life Coach
– 05m 47s

3.1 Introduction
Life coaching involves motivating people to
do more, be more and achieve more than what
they may have strived for on their own.

Life coaching is becoming more popular in the UK because

people are positively opening up to the idea of self-
development and self-improvement. The concept of life coaching
no longer feels strange or alien. People are realising that
life coaching is able to help you obtain real, lasting and
tangible results. Put simply, a life coach is someone who is
able to take you from your current situation to where you want
to be.

There are several types of life coaching, which we will

discuss in detail.

The best way to specialise is to select one area that stirs

your interest and passion and become proficient at it.
Coaching can differ in content and varies according to the
environment, as well as the needs of the client.

Confidence coaching, career coaching, relationship coaching,

group coaching and personal life coaching are some of the
different types of coaching. Confidence coaching allows people
to explore their own fears and limiting beliefs, and to set
their own goals and take responsibility for them.

Relationships have become much more complex and are cracking

under modern day pressures of work, finance, family, and so
on. Relationship coaching can help to identify and resolve
problems.

You can also choose to become a group coach. Group coaching is

slightly different, compared to one-to-one coaching, and it
offers its own set of advantages. Participants of a group can
derive benefits from the learning experiences of others, as
well as develop innovative perspectives of their own in terms
of problems and challenges.

Sensitivity, empathy, listening skills, passion and emotional

intelligence are some important attributes for a life coach.
Your ability to identify and understand emotions and detach
yourself from the situation or problem will help you become a
more successful coach. Thus, you will not stand in the way of
your client’s progress and development.
Fact

According to a news report in The

Independent, a quarter of UK citizens are unhappy with their
work-life balance.
Source: independent.co.uk

3.2 Different Types of Life

Coaching
Any type of life coaching is usually aimed
at helping people identify and improve upon
their strengths and skills, achieve their
goals, achieve personal and professional
success and manage transitional stages of
life and challenges in a better manner.

In general, life coaching helps address several aspects of our

personality, including behaviour, skills, aptitude, interests,
beliefs and aspirations. Life coaching can also help promote
physical, mental, holistic or spiritual development. Overall,
life coaching leads to a host of positive benefits that help
improve people’s lives.
By understanding the specific types of life coaching, you may
decide to develop your skills and training in the area that
most interests you and best suits your skill set. Thus, you
can make the most empowering choice for yourself.

Your Niche Area

Offering your services in niche areas will also help you
attract the right clients and offer an area which you can
completely focus on.

There are two primary benefits to selecting a niche for your

business:

It helps add authenticity and credibility to your

business as you’re focusing your efforts on those
clients that you’re really interested in. Clients in
turn will be more motivated to work with you and are
likely to nurture long-term relationships with you
On the realistic level, it makes more sense to invest
marketing effort into targeting a specific group of
clients. You can tailor your online, social media, email
and offline marketing campaigns at those who’re looking
for your specific life coaching services.

Contrary to popular belief, concentrating on one area helps

you grow your business instead of limiting it.

Ask Yourself Four Important Questions to Choose Your Niche

What am I passionate about? – When you work with zeal

and passion, you’re more likely to be motivated and
energised by your work , and this will show in your
efforts. Think about the people you want as clients and
the problems that you want to solve.
What are my unique experiences and skills? – Each one of
us has special skills and talents that no-one else has.
Are you good with motivating people to succeed? Do you
possess exceptional communication or listening skills?
 Are you good at connecting with people?
What do I know a lot about? – All of us pick up useful
knowledge from our own life experiences and
opportunities. Are you good at cooking, sports or
dancing? Do you know about how to switch careers? Do you
have a background in finance or have you dealt
extensively with money? Are you good with business
development?
Whom do I want to work with? – Which clients do you feel
comfortable working with? Do you want to target
millennials? Or are you more comfortable working with
older adults? Would you like to help women? Are sports
peoples your specialty?

Business Coaching
With the rise in the number of business entrepreneurs in the
UK, this is a career that offers excellent prospects, if this
is where your interest lies. Business coaching involves
helping entrepreneurs to develop the right mindset, form the
right vision and understand their customers for their
particular brand, product or service.

This is a specialised type of coaching and is usually related

to organisational goals and processes and overcoming
limitations. However, the main emphasis is usually on changing
the mindset of business executives and motivating them to
adopt fresh perspectives on problems and challenges.

One-to-one Coaching for Executives

This is also a form of business coaching but is provided on a
one-to-one basis. There can be several different types of one-
to-one executive coaching that include hard core business
coaching, as well other holistic coaching.

The coaching may involve stress management and the promotion

of a better work-life balance. Increasing levels of stress and
pressure is a source of continuing concern to UK health
authorities. The rigours of corporate life and the strain of
deadlines, meetings and outcomes can all negatively affect our
sense of wellbeing and impact our minds and bodies in
destructive ways. One-to-one coaching can help executives and
employees deal with work-related pressures and improve their
work-life balance.

Executives often experience stress, and this leads to an

extremely uneven work-life balance.

As a life coach, you can help by:

Asking the right questions and helping clients build a

routine and find a job that is in alignment with their
goals and priorities
Helping clients understand themselves, so that they are
able to better organise and control their time
Guiding clients in becoming more proactive than reactive
Helping clients overcome setbacks and loss, as well as
deal with difficult situations and people

Executive coaching usually covers goal-setting, planning,

control, action and achievement but also often includes
personal exploration and discovery.

Personal Coaching
A personal coach helps people gain clarity and awareness with
regards to their feelings, thoughts and options. Often, we may
feel unmotivated or unsure of what we feel, what we want and
why negative emotions are holding us back. A personal life
coach asks questions and helps clients examine their inner
beliefs and blocks and encourages them to achieve their goals
or consider alternative life paths.

Personal life coaching is especially useful for people who

wish to change their lives for the better. Life coaches are
able to help us view situations, options and relationships
from fresh perspectives.
As a personal coach, you have the chance to help people gain
confidence, relate better to other people, enjoy loving
relationships and take charge of their lives. Life coaching is
suitable for people who are seeking happiness, fulfilment and
meaning in their lives.

Most people may also derive emotional and moral support from
their close family or friends; however, a professional life
coach can provide unbiased and non-judgmental input because
you are outside the situation and are able to provide fresh
perspectives, without the hindrance of emotional involvement.

In the ebb and flow of everyday life, people are often left
with no space in which to think about themselves, their dreams
and their future. Life coaching provides an empowering space
in which people are able to reconsider their lives and take
stock of their feelings, thoughts and goals in a holistic
manner.

Personal coaching can be summarised in the following manner:

You can help your clients develop self-confidence, self-

esteem and examine areas of their lives about which they
may harbour limiting beliefs. Often, clients may be
unaware of inner fears and limitations that are
preventing them from moving forward. Speaking with a
life coach can provide clients with the space they need
for personal reflection.
Personal life coaching covers several areas of life,
including goals, feelings, achievement, success and
relationships. As a personal life coach, your training
and skills can result in far-reaching consequences for
your clients and help them improve their lives in
several meaningful ways.
The very act of coming to your office or speaking to you
on Skype can help clients to take further accountability
for themselves because they are articulating their goals
to you. This in and of itself works effectively in terms
of improving commitment and accountability.
 Personal coaching is excellent for those individuals who
would like one-to-one time with their coach and prefer
privacy, space and time in which to speak with you
alone.

Group Life Coaching

In addition to coaching groups, you can also coach groups of
individuals seeking similar assistance. Group life coaching is
different to team coaching, which is usually aimed at
organisations.

For example
As a life coach, you can consider talking to a group of women
who have all raised families and are now ready to return to
work. They may harbour several fears, insecurities and
limiting beliefs regarding what they can or cannot do. Your
assistance can help them rediscover their values and options
and reach out beyond their comfort zones.
Group life coaching participants benefit from the coach as
well as from the communication of other participants. Group
coaching can be fun and can provide tangible assistance to
several clients at the same time.

As a group coach, you may wish to consider grouping clients

with similar requirements.

For example
You may group people belonging to a similar age bracket,
people with similar challenges, such as relationship or family
problems, or those who are looking for career guidance.
Group life coaching is a dynamic and engaging career option
and can be both very financially and emotionally rewarding.
Participants often find it more fun to learn as a group.

There are several advantages of group coaching.

You can schedule weekly, fortnightly or monthly meetings for
your clients. The meetings can either be conducted online or
in person. Alternatively, the meetings can be held at a
different participant’s home, in turn.
Regardless of the set-up, group life coaching is a shared
experience, and every member benefits, not only from their own
experience and development but also from that of other
participants in the group.

If you are interested in becoming a group coach, you can

develop programmes whereby participants start and finish
together. Witnessing other people’s development and having
other people witness your own development leads to a feeling
of built-in support that lasts for as long as the programme
runs.

Along with communication, participants benefit from feeling

connected and developing a feeling of belonging. Very often,
if you have been raising a family, for example, you may feel
cut off from people and even from yourself. Participating in
group life coaching can help you connect with other people who
face the same challenges as you do.

If you are interested in becoming a group life coach, it is a

good idea to become familiar with the different
characteristics of group life coaching that are outlined
below:

Problems and challenges are complex: Keep the

discussions clear, frank and engaging – this will help
members look at the issues from different perspectives.
Each perspective may be associated with different causes
and effects. The individual who has presented their
problem will be able to benefit from listening to
different opinions and decide on the ones that best
resonate with them.
Establishing new mindsets: A good group life coach is
able to help people push their boundaries and get out of
established mindsets. A group coaching session
facilitates new and innovative ways of thinking.
Creative questioning and reflective listening
techniques: While you can manage the discussion, it is a
 good idea to encourage reflective listening and creative
questioning.

Group life coaches play a major role in interpreting the

participants’ learning experiences and clarifying insights and
what different aspects may mean to each member of the group.

As a group coach, you can expect your clients to experience

higher levels of accountability, as they report back to a
group of people whom they have grown to trust.

What you need to remember is that, although group coaching

includes multiple participants, each participant may have
their own goals and require a different pace, as well as a
different style, in order to progress.

It is important to be able to integrate each participant’s

individual goals with those of the group, so that every
participant is able to experience development. You may also
have to help each participant develop their own action plan.

As the coach, your primary role involves creating a thoughtful

and creative process of enquiry, exploration and self-
discovery. You can also consider facilitating informative and
productive group discussions, whilst, at the same time, adding
your valuable input.

It should also be your role to ensure that the discussions do

not become irrelevant. The main objective should be to
encourage the sharing of experiences and perspectives, so that
the information can be used as learning opportunities by the
participants.

Some participants may wish to enrol for group coaching, as

well as personal coaching.
Activity
Estimated time: 5 minutes

Given your set of skills, attributes and interests,

which type of coaching would you prefer: group coaching
or one-to-one coaching?
What are the reasons for your choice?
Have you considered the associated benefits of each
type?

Wellness Coaching
Wellness coaching is a combination of health and emotional
coaching and helps bridge the gap between what people say they
want and what they actually do. One of the most holistic
objectives of wellness coaching is to help people overcome
resistance to change and thus progress.

Wellness coaches help clients identify what they want and why
they want it and, based on that, they help them work out a
realistic and practical plan that helps them reach their
goals. They help an individual to own their goals, take
responsibility and become accountable for their commitment to
the plan.

Wellness deals with physical, mental and emotional wellbeing

and includes different aspects, such as nutrition, stress,
weight loss and health. Wellness coaching helps put people in
charge of their own health and wellbeing.

A wellness coach is able to facilitate change, by integrating

the client’s values, visions, goals and desires, by helping
them bring out the best of themselves. The process promotes
sustainable behavioural change, by highlighting their unique
skills, strengths and resources, and then helps them transform
their dreams into achievable value-based objectives.

Wellness coaching is best described as a process of empowering

self-exploration and self-learning.

Relationship Coaching
Relationship coaching (which is quite distinct from couples’
therapy) is coaching that facilitates greater satisfaction and
fulfilment in relationships. The process involves setting
goals for your relationship, understanding and thriving in
your current relationship and moving on to new relationships.

Relationship coaching does not only relate to romantic

relationships between partners but also includes relationships
with parents, siblings, other family members and friends.
Modern-day pressures have had an adverse impact on
relationships, including marriage, and divorce rates in the UK
have skyrocketed in the last few decades. Whether they relate
to cohabiting couples, single parents, estranged spouses or
remarried couples, complex relationship challenges in the
twenty-first century are here to stay. Family dynamics are
changing, and when you combine these with other life problems,
people often need serious help in moving forward.

Relationship coaching helps you to rebuild trust and

connection, understand your own desires and overcoming
internal emotional barriers. Relationship coaching can help
people overcome obstacles and navigate their feelings,
relationships and connections from a more empowered
standpoint.

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of

remarriages in the UK, and this has led to a rise in problems
adjusting, due to shifting family dynamics.

For example
Single mothers in Great Britain often face problems in terms
of juggling finances and raising a family.
Relationship counselling helps integrate stepparents into the
family and also offers support that helps people move on from
relationships that did not work out. A relationship coach can
help you process feelings of hurt, rejection and anger, by
encouraging you to examine your inner feelings and look to the
future.

Activity
Estimated time: 5 – 10 minutes

Why do think that modern-day relationships involve more

challenges, in comparison to previous years?
Do you think that modern-day pressures have led to
increasing instability in relationships in general?
What would be your approach towards helping people
become more empowered in relationships?

Confidence Coaching
Self-doubt and fears can stop us from becoming strong,
confident and successful people. Insecurities and concerns for
approval from other people can throw a spanner in the works
and hold us back from achieving our goals. People-pleasing and
second-guessing other people can subconsciously drive our
behaviours and actions.

As with other types of life coaching that we have previously

discussed, confidence coaching is different from counselling
or therapy. However, a confidence coach can help you live a
life that is free from constantly seeking approval from other
people. It helps you to learn to face life’s challenges with
ease and build your self-confidence on the basis of who you
really are.

As a confidence coach, you can help your clients to stop doing

and being what people around them expect them to do and be and
to be comfortable with the idea of pushing their boundaries.
You can also help your clients to be confident when facing
failure.

Confidence coaching can help people think confidently and to

reach out and live a full life, as opposed to being satisfied
with less than what they want.
In general, coaching in any area of our lives is extremely
useful, when we are not prepared to be totally honest with
ourselves. Even if we are prepared to be honest, we may not
really be aware of what to do about it or how to get out of
the rut. Life coaching can do wonders for those people who,
due to lurking limiting beliefs, feel very uncomfortable with
stepping out of their comfort zone.

As confidence levels may be low, any little excuse will cause

them to avoid taking action and slip back into the same life
patterns that were weighing them down in the first place.

Fact

According to a 2016 article in The

Independent, 42% of marriages in England and Wales ended in
divorce.
Source: independent.co.uk

3.3 Attributes of a Good Life Coach

What does it take to become a skilled and
effective life coach?

Life coaches often come from different backgrounds, and there

is no specific background that helps provide any particular
advantages. In some cases, a background in a specific area may
help.

For example
If you have previous experience in career coaching or worked
in Human Resources, you may prefer career or business
coaching.
However, for holistic life coaching, there is no particular
requirement – it is more about how you connect and
communicate, as opposed to what you have studied.

To follow are the attributes of a skilled and effective life

coach:

Sensitivity
The chances are that, as we grew up, most of us who are
sensitive by nature have often been criticised for being that
way. We may have been told not to be so sensitive; however,
sensitive people make the best life coaches because we are
highly tuned in to the feelings and emotions of others, and
this is a very important attribute.

A life coach helps those individuals who need clarity about

their present situation. Strong sensitivity is a strong
foundation for empathy, and, as a sensitive person, you will
have a fairly accurate idea of where someone is at
emotionally. You are more likely to be less judgmental and
critical and will be strongly inclined to help the individual
in the best possible manner.
Detachment
While empathy and sensitivity are excellent attributes, the
life coach should also be able to detach from the client’s
situation and think outside it. It is only when you are
detached that you will be able to provide insight or
facilitate creative self-enquiry that promotes self-learning.

Excessive attachment may cloud your thinking and

understanding. Detachment allows you to get out of the way of
the client’s development and progress.

Emotional Intelligence (EI) or Emotional Quotient (EQ)

Emotional intelligence (EI) or emotional quotient (EQ) refers
to the ability to recognise your own emotions, as well as
those of other people. This is an extremely useful attribute
because it allows the coach to use emotions, in order to
problem-solve, and help people to better understand their
relationships.

High emotional intelligence also allows you to manage stress

in a proactive manner, and the benefit gets passed on to your
clients, who are able to perceive the source of their stress
with more clarity.

Most importantly, a high emotional quotient helps you

identify, understand and manage a whole range of emotions, to
enable you to promote self-awareness in your clients.

Excellent Listening and Observation Skills

The main task of a life coach is to motivate and encourage
people to progress on their life path towards their goals.
This can only be accomplished if you listen actively and
carefully to what the client wants. In fact, you need to
listen to not only the actual spoken words but also to the
client’s tone and pitch.

In addition, you need to observe their body language, the way

they sit, how they make eye contact, their hand and leg
movements. This can provide perceptive insights into what the
client ‘does not’ say. These clues can help redirect your line
of questioning in a way that facilitates self-enquiry.

Listening carefully helps you glean that each client’s desires

and beliefs are different and that you cannot provide a
standard coaching experience for everyone. During a session
with a client, focus your attention entirely on them, and do
not allow your mind to become distracted.

We will discuss listening and communication skills in further

detail in Module 4.

Passion and Interest

As with any other business, life coaching becomes successful,
when you are passionate and enthusiastic about your work and
are interested in it. At a basic level, you should nurture a
genuine desire to help others achieve their goals. This is
different from excessive personal involvement. Passion,
interest and enthusiasm can be perceived by your clients
through your words, attitude, body language, and so on.

Above all, offer your coaching services, without giving your

clients instructions or counselling. Your guidance must be
aimed at promoting self-learning, self-discovery and self-
exploration, with a view to helping your clients move forward
to where they want to be.

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Assignment
The Different Types of Life Coaching and the Attributes of a
Successful Life Coach

Time: 30+ minutes

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module as possible. To find out how well you have done,
complete the following worksheet.

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Module Summary
Life coaches help people grow into the person that they wish
to be, by enabling non-judgemental change for the better. The
process is a synergistic one, whereby the coach works with the
client, in order to facilitate self-discovery, through enquiry
and creativity.

The coach is then able to integrate the client’s visions,

values, goals and dreams, in order to help them overcome
resistance and lead a life that is in alignment with their
inner values.

Through the process of thoughtful and detailed enquiry, safe,

open and transparent communication and collaborative goal
setting, life coaches help clients understand where they are,
where they want to go, why they want to go there and
eventually how they can get there.

As clients feel more accountable when they work with a life

coach, they are able to achieve much more than what they
thought they could achieve. Life coaches facilitate self-
learning and then help their clients translate the learning
into an actionable plan that leads the clients to their goals.

There are several types of life coaching that you can

consider. These include business or career coaching,
confidence coaching, wellness and health coaching, group
coaching, relationship coaching and personal coaching.

The attributes of a good life coach include sensitivity,

empathy, detachment, excellent listening skills and emotional
intelligence.

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