Have you ever noticed how coaching tips can show up in the strangest places? Take Freemasonry for example. My husband has been a freemason since before I met him and he’s held many positions within that fraternity. Until his recent promotion to Inspector for the Grand Lodge of California, he held the job of Officer’s Coach in his local lodge. Consequently coaching tips have been flying fast and furious between us for some time now! This blog comes from a conversation we had about which apron he should wear to an event he attended as part of his new responsibilities.

What Do Masonic Aprons Have To Do With Coach’s Hats?

Masonic aprons aren’t like the BBQ aprons we see in the summertime. They are worn ceremonially by the officer corps of freemasonry. They identify of the rank and position of the wearer, and hold a message about what responsibilities he has in relation to other Masons. In this case, the choice was to wear his past master’s apron—indicating that he has had the honor and responsibility of running his lodge for a year, or wearing his inspector’s apron, indicating his new authority and responsibilities for the three lodges now under his purvue. As life coaches we wear figurative hats rather than aprons, but the question of “which one do I wear to give the message I need to give” isn’t much different. How do you decide which hat to put on when you interact with your client? Here are some coaching tips to help you make the decision.

Coaching Tips On The Coaching Hat You Choose

As a life coach, your style and comfort zone fall into one or more of five basic coaching models.

1. Consultant—you provide advice and information in usable, bite-size chunks.
2. Friend—you listen without an agenda, provide support and clarity.
3. Strategist—you use the information your client provides to work out a plan to reach his goal and act as a sounding board for his ideas.
4. Guru—you instill confidence just because you say he is worthy of it.
5. Leader—you give instructions and provide accountability to get your client into action.

One of the best coaching tips I know is to get very clear on what role fits you most comfortably. Then you will know your most effective coaching style. Another of my favorite coaching tips is that once you are clear about your comfort zone, you can step out of it more easily when your client needs you to do so to get the results he wants.

Hats or aprons. The best tip of all is that it’s all about knowing who you are and what you need to do to get the result you want.

Hope you took some great value out of this post today! I’d love to hear your feedback, so make sure you leave a comment with your thoughts or questions. And also, you can click on the Twitter button below to retweet this article… Thank you!

Dorine G Kramer
JTS Advisors Strategy and Accountability Coach