March 3, 2026

Soft skills – hard impact: “This coaching thing is all about people”

Key Points

Effective coaching prioritizes soft skills over technical proficiency, showing their necessity for success.
Key metrics from Serial Winning Coaches reveal the impact of interpersonal and emotional skills on athlete wellbeing.
Exploration of UNESCO and OECD frameworks highlights the essential socioemotional competencies needed in coaching.
The focus on soft skills suggests a shift towards a holistic approach in coaching, enhancing athlete performance.

Abstract

This article explores how successful sport coaching hinges on soft skills and a people-first focus beyond technical know-how. Interpersonal, emotional, cognitive and values-based skills like communication, empathy and integrity are key to effective, ethical highperformance coaching. It frames soft skills via UNESCO, OECD and World Economic Forum as broad socioemotional competencies, with Serial Winning Coaches research highlighting vision, people and environment for sustainable success and athlete wellbeing.

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Sergio Lara-Bercial (Mon,) studied this question.

www.synapsesocial.com/papers/69a765fcbadf0bb9e87db2c0 — DOI: https://doi.org/10.71006/ztdg2875

Soft skills – hard impact: “This coaching thing is all about people”

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