Being a trainer

..is so much more than just bossing people around. What I've seen, being a good coach requires taking care of so many different things one wouldnt even think about. Today somewhere close to the end of a third practice of the day - as my coach is gone, is just me alone - I realized how much during the last 4 hours I had been cheering and motivating people - "come on, two more, you can do it, come on, take a big breath, kom nu, kom sa," And therefore started thinking about how important it is that your athletes would trust you and feel safe with you. That's something Simon has always been bringing out, but I think I got it just today. The athletes are willing to do whatever you tell them to do. They give you their body, so you could give your knowledge and in a way both the athlete and the coach are each others tools.
Of course the athletes get tired as well. And they believe they can't do something or cant lift some weight. And that's where trusting becomes important. The athletes need to know that the coach wouldn't make them do anything dangerous, and that she respect the athletes enough  to not spend their time and energy making them do exercises they won't benefit from. They have to know that the coach is there for them and helps them. And then they will really believe her when she's saying "c'mon, one more rep, you can do it'. And then they'll really do it.
Then, a good coach in my opinion, has to be an amazing communicator - be able to be short and precise, saying just the right things on just the right moment, not too little, not too much, pick the right words, know when its necessary to make a little joke and then actually be able to make a joke and know when to be serious and even when to get upset. And when not to. When to push, how to push, how to motivate and how to leave a good impression of herself.
A coach definitely needs to know how to behave. How to stay calm and polite, how to look as an authority but not as someone people would be afraid of. How to cheer people up and how to calm them down.
She always needs to be on top  of the game - knowing what's going on, whats the plan, why is the plan as it is, what's the main focus points, what's more important and what's less. The athlete will come to practice and do what he's told to do. It's the coach who needs to pick the right things so the athlete would be in the most optimal state by some agreed time. And here, again, trust is so important. If the athlete doesn't believe a coach can do all that, he's probably not going to want to do the exercises either.
A coach should also look believable. It is probably possible to be the best coach in the world even when you're overweight and out of shape, but it definitely doesn't help being a good coach. Being strong and being fit gives some extra backup for the things the coach is saying. And makes the communication so much easier by allowing the coach to demonstrate exactly what she wants  the athlete to do, all the movements being perfectly perfect.
And then, not last and definitely not least, a coach needs to manage the whole thing. There can't be a weight training in the weight room at 8 o'clock if the weight room is closed at 8. It's not possible to do shot putting if there's no shots. You can't go to competitions unless you pick and get the right ticket to the right place; and so on and so on and so on.
There's many more things a coach has to be very good at, in order to be very good at coaching. And bossing people around is just one and very small thing, coming with the job.

Not to make this post a praise to Simon Stewart or something, but I believe he is really good at a lot of those things. And I'm so glad to be learning from who I believe to be the best.
Check him out, I'm sure you'd wanna be trained by him ;) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N64tKY8uGtM