Building Rapport in Coaching

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Anchiy

Build a trusting, credible, and reliable coaching relationship.

Many of us work naturally at building rapport with others in our everyday relationships, both at home and at work. Building this rapport is even more important in coaching.

For coaching to be successful, coaches and coachees (the people being coached) must work together and share information about each other. This will help the coachee to trust the coach, and to feel emotionally safe as the relationship develops.

In this article, we'll look at ways you can build and maintain trust and rapport with the people you're coaching, and thus get the best from your coaching relationships.

The Four Characteristics of Trust

Mutual trust is critical in a coaching relationship, and building rapport can help people gain that trust. David Maister, an expert in professional relationships, identified the main characteristics of our behavior that help to build trust as credibility, reliability, intimacy, and care.

You can apply these characteristics to improve coaching relationships, as follows:...