ABSTRACT
It seems obvious that a coaching relationship can only achieve the level of openness it needs if there is a reasonable level of rapport. That doesn’t mean that coach and coachee have to be great friends – simply that there has to be a high level of mutual respect at both the professional and personal levels. Research in mentoring (Hale, 2000) indicates that a sense of shared values is a significant component of rapport in this context and this can be extrapolated to coaching relationships. Building rapport rapidly is therefore a core competence for a coach.
