I've been thinking about something that bugs me in the life coaching world. Everyone talks about diplomas and certifications like they're the holy grail. Get your certificate, hang it on the wall, and suddenly you're qualified to help people fix their lives.
This is wrong.
I've seen coaches with impressive credentials who couldn't help anyone if their life depended on it. And I've seen coaches with no formal training at all who change people's lives every day. The paper on the wall doesn't tell you much about what really matters.
What Really Makes a Good Coach
What makes a good life coach? It's not the diploma. It's whether they've actually lived through something difficult and come out the other side with useful insights. It's whether they can connect with another human being and help them see their blind spots.
Think about the people who have helped you most in your life. Were they the ones with the best credentials? Probably not. They were the ones who had been where you were and could guide you through it.
A friend of mine runs a small coaching practice. No fancy certificates. But he spent ten years building and losing businesses, went through a brutal divorce, struggled with depression, and came out stronger. When someone sits across from him with similar problems, he gets it in a way no textbook can teach.
Compare that to someone who went straight from college to coaching school to hanging out their shingle. They might know all the right frameworks and techniques, but they've never really been tested. When life hits their clients hard, what do they have to offer besides theory?
Education Has Its Place
This doesn't mean education is worthless. A basic course can teach you useful tools and help you avoid obvious mistakes. But it's like learning to drive in a parking lot versus actually driving in traffic. The real learning happens when you're dealing with actual people with actual problems.
The coaching industry loves its credentials because they make everything seem more legitimate and professional. But legitimacy and effectiveness are not the same thing. Medicine needs strict credentialing because you can kill someone if you mess up. But in coaching, the worst that happens is you waste someone's time and money.
The Human Element
The most important thing in coaching is the relationship between coach and client. Can you create a safe space where someone feels comfortable being vulnerable? Can you listen without judging? Can you ask the right questions at the right time? These are human skills that come from being human, not from studying.
I've watched coaches with perfect technique fail because they couldn't connect. And I've watched coaches with no formal training succeed because they had something more valuable: genuine care and hard-won wisdom.
Breaking Down Barriers
The obsession with credentials also creates a barrier to entry that keeps out people who might be naturally good at this work. Someone who has overcome addiction, rebuilt their life after trauma, or learned to manage a difficult marriage might be exactly who someone else needs to talk to. But if they can't afford or don't want to get certified, the system shuts them out.
This matters because coaching, at its core, is about one person helping another person think more clearly about their life. It's an ancient human activity that existed long before anyone thought to create certificates for it.
The Real Education
The best coaches I know treat their credentials like a learner's permit, not a driver's license. They know the real education comes from sitting with people, listening to their stories, and learning what actually helps versus what sounds good in theory.
If you're looking for a coach, don't ask about their degrees first. Ask about their story. What have they been through? How did they handle it? Do you feel like they understand something about life that might be useful to you?
And if you're thinking about becoming a coach, by all means take a course to learn the basics. But don't fool yourself into thinking that's what will make you good at this work. The thing that will make you good is living your life with attention, learning from your mistakes, and caring enough about other people to help them do the same.
The paper on the wall is just paper. The person behind it is what matters.
