As the founder and director of a leading executive coaching certification and training program, the one question I get asked most is, “Would I make a good executive coach?”

Following are three ways to know that you are likely to be a successful executive coach…

One: You love developing people and helping them to be their best.

The most successful executive coaches tell me that the most rewarding and fulfilling moments in their career include times when they have mentored, coached, or developed others. Often they have done this in a role as a manager or leader. Perhaps they have been in a training and development role. Perhaps they have made this discovery in a voluntary role, as a mentor or community leader.

Executive and leadership coaching is fundamentally about helping people be even better, especially in their careers, with their teams, and in their organizations.

One of the most fulfilling aspects of being a coach is that you get to isolate the moments that have been most rewarding in your own career, and make a profession out of those exact activities.

In my own executive coaching practice, I’ve been so fortunate to work with leaders on some of their most important challenges: turning around their organization; succeeding in a new executive or leadership role; completing a change initiative; setting and executing top strategic priorities; getting better control and discipline in how they spend their time; developing successors to help the organization accelerate growth; building a business that can run without them; or moving to the next level. It’s phenomenal work, and I give thanks every day that I get to do the things I loved doing most in my previous careers.

Two: You have a track record of success so that you will be credible as an executive coach.

It is a privilege to be an executive coach. You have to earn the right.

This doesn’t mean that you have to have been a CEO at a Fortune 500 company. Nothing like that.

That’s because there are so, so many types of executives and leaders. There are leaders at all levels of organizations, from the C-suite to first-time managers. Demographically, there are leaders in every age group, from every educational level, and that have any of the myriad demographic characteristics that might matter most to you. There are leaders in organizations that operate in the for-profit, non-profit, and government sectors. There are leaders in organizations of all sizes — from massive with tens of thousands of employees to solo entrepreneurial ventures. There are leaders facing specific challenges, whether a merger, new role, leading in a family-owned business, handling growth, or overcoming new strategic challenges. Depending on your background, skills, and achievements, you can coach in any number of niches, for any number of types of leaders. Your choices are nearly unlimited.

However, regardless of where you choose to play, you should come across as credible. You have to find a reason why leaders in your market would want to talk to you about their most pressing challenges, and hire you. Maybe you have a track record of leadership. Maybe you have walked in their shoes, and therefore can help them solve the problems they face. Maybe you have education that will help, perhaps in business, psychology, philosophy, technology, or others. Perhaps you are an expert on a specific topic, like communications or organizational development.

You should also have proper training as an executive and leadership coach. Coaching has become an established profession. It used to be like the Wild West, and anyone could hang a shingle. Not anymore. These days, to be credible, you need training in the best practices, core competencies, and methods of the top executive coach.

Being a coach to leaders, business owners, and professionals in career transition is a privilege and an honor. Make sure that you can point to something that makes you credible, so that you can attract clients.

Three: You are an excellent listener.

Coaching is not about telling people what to do. It’s not about diagnosing their problems for them. It’s not about telling long-winded stories about how you handled similar challenges back in the day. Nor is it about being a guru, peppering clients with your amazing wisdom and expecting them to follow your every word.

The most important skills for a coach is to be an outstanding listener. There is an art to hearing what the client is saying, and what they are not saying, and helping them move forward with new insights.

Listening makes coaching possible. If you listen well enough, and connect what you hear to the client’s goals, you can offer massive value. If you are not great at listening, you can develop the skill. However, be sure you are ready. The world doesn’t need another self-proclaimed coach who wants to direct, tell, pontificate, reminisce, or take over the client’s job for them.

Bonus for External Coaches: Willingness to do business development

If you are starting your own practice, there is one more requirement. You have to be willing to do the work required to attract clients and build your practice. Coaching is a business like any other. You have to do the work, be ready to take rejection, and keep learning and moving forward.

You can’t sit behind a desk waiting for calls.

You can’t hide behind other projects, like writing a book (“I’ll start marketing my services once my book is out”), creating the perfect website, or getting your blog going.

You have to get good at finding prospective clients, explaining the problem(s) you can solve and the value you bring, and closing engagements.

These are all skills that you can learn. You have to be willing to practice, commit the time, and make the effort.

So, do you have what it takes to be a successful executive coach?

There are many certified coaches marketing their services. However, there still are not many excellent ones. There is still plenty of room in the market. You just have to have the passion, the talent, the training, and the credibility. To your success!