Anyone can be a coach, but not everyone can be a great one. A great coach possesses a combination of qualities that facilitate effective guidance and support. They have the ability to assess an individual’s needs, meet them where they are, and help them achieve their goals for personal, professional or business improvement.

During ideamix’s vetting process, we look at a range of criteria to assess a coach’s suitability for our platform. We examine their technical skills, such as knowledge of coaching principles, methodologies and frameworks. We also look at harder to measure qualitative criteria such as their interpersonal skills which facilitate empathy and connection.

ideamix has a multi-layered vetting process that enables us to assess varying criteria to find top coaches. We gather information about their experience and background, references and peer recommendations. We also personally meet with each coach and interview them. Even after onboarding, we continue to assess their abilities and personalities through one-on-one engagement.

We are committed to building a network that represents the world around us in order to best serve our diverse customers. Our vetting process is underscored by our commitment to diversity in every way and inclusion.

We vet our coaches by assessing the following essential qualifications:

• Expertise
• Coaching specialties
• Industry and situational contexts of clients they work with
• Experience as a coach
• Previous experience in a similar role as the client’s they are coaching (many coaches had careers before transitioning full time to coaching)

• Education
• Educational background
• Certification from a credible coaching organization and / or program such as the International Coaching Federation (ICF), the world’s largest professional organization for coaches
• Certification in particular methodologies or assessments such as Design Your Life (DYL), Disc Assessment, Hogan, Strengths Finder, etc.

• Communication skills
• Build rapport
• Simply and clearly explain complex concepts and ideas
• Ability to positively give and receive feedback

• Empathy – Emotional intelligence to see things from another individual’s perspective to provide non-judgemental support and encouragement
• Motivation & Goal-orientation – Ability to inspire clients to achieve their goals and overcome challenges
• Trustworthiness – Honesty and reliability to build an individual’s confidence that they’re working with someone who has their best interests in mind
• Patience – An understanding that change takes time, iteration and persistence with the willingness to work with clients until they reach their goals
• Creativity – Out-of-the-box thinking to propose new, innovative solutions to problems
• Flexibility – Ability to adapt their coaching style to an individual’s needs
• Values alignment – Values generally align with ideamix’s: human-centric, default to quality, diversity, transparency, impact and seamless experience
• Recommendations – Recommended by someone trusted in our network
• Client references