Coaches are mistakenly rewarded for easy achievements.
I rarely visit the testimonial section of websites. Too often they vaguely boast about how they got a [choose your disadvantage] person to do X in Y time. It's phrased in such a way that nobody else could have done such a thing, that only they have the shortcut to get the magic pill to get a free lunch. They tout their program's effectiveness on getting clients [choose your goal], despite it being based on something that almost every other program is: progressive overload, basic periodization, CICO, and recovery schemes. Choosing the principles of a program based on the goals is not revolutionary nor innovative.
There's no problem with beginners making progress. The problem lies with coaches being glamorized and rewarded for such easy-to-progress clients. Getting an overweight client to lose 10 kg is easy; getting a lean client down to 7% bodyfat while maintaining strength is difficult. Getting an untrained client to a bodyweight-added squat is easy; getting a hard-working client to a 140kg front squat is difficult. Getting a new runner to a sub 8:00 min mile is easy; getting a Jack Daniels follower to a sub 5:00 min mile is difficult.
No one bats an eye at the first part of those three, while the second part turns heads and demands respect, both to the client and coach. Yet we incorrectly say someone is a good coach when they get anything up to or past the first achievements. Virtually anyone can lose 10 kg, squat their bodyweight on a barbell, and run faster than an 8:00 min mile. The formula is incredibly simple: find a well-reviewed program, fervently adhere to it for at least one year, and boom! the goal has been achieved. This logic cannot be extrapolated for loftier goals because progress is logarithmic with both time and effort: intelligent programming must be implemented alongside hard work, patience, and consistency. It's here that the worthwhile coaches make themselves known. They have to know their client's training history and lifestyle and how they react to certain stimulus; they have to motivate the client in times of despair (this should mostly be the client's burden, but some still falls on the coach); they have to instill trust in the coach-client relationship when things don't make sense or progress has stalled; they have to hold the client accountable (again, this is mostly on the client). These are not easy skills to attain or maintain. They require vast experience across a breadth of clients, empathy and sympathy, the ability to connect on a personal level, and a drive to see the client through to their goal despite an obstacle-ridden road. Coaches that have these skills are doing something right.
The ability to change behavior for the long-term is an incredibly underrated skill that any coach—exercise-related or otherwise—can and should have. Most people who are deep in some hole have unproductive behaviors they've instilled over many years, behaviors that are ingrained in their life and habits and conscious and unconscious choices, behaviors that will require years of hard work to unlearn, behaviors that may be permanently installed and need to be fought against.
A good coach can help with all of that. There is nothing new under the sun—no revolutionary training methodology has been invented or discovered in the recent past—but crafting and feeding ideas and change in a palatable, personalized manner to a client may be the difference between them continuing to claw at the hole's walls and discovering the ladder that had been behind them the entire time. Books and courses are often one-size-fits-all for the good reason that most of the population will receive and respond to it well. The problem lies in neglecting the fact that some respond significantly differently to suggestions: what works for persons one through nine won't work for person 10. Person 10 keeps trying to fit that square peg through the round hole that Dr. Coach Guru ® swears is foolproof and works for everyone, when the square hole is just a perspective and schedule change away. Epiphanies happen more often than one would think. Concepts clicking because of a small tweak in an explanation happen. The wheels of progress can continue to turn because of a minor adjustment or a small detail being noticed.
I propose standards for celebrating coaching success. They aren't rigid nor well-defined, but it will be obvious when it should be applauded. Anything that falls short is ignored and doesn't count towards testimonials—come back again when you're tall enough to ride. Anything that surpasses the bare minimum is given a nod of approval—good job, but keep working. Anything that greatly exceeds expectations is celebrated and rewarded with attention—teach your methods to the world. Clients deserve to know when they're getting the real deal and not a charlatan.
Standards raise the bar and force wannabe coaches to improve their craft or get the fuck out. I bet that exit line's gonna be long.