Coaching
“If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then you are an excellent leader.”
“Coaching”, as a concept, has been around for over 200 years. But most would still struggle to define what it is, or what it’s about.
So it seems helpful to explain in simple terms what “coaching” means to me—and my style of engagement as a professional coach.
Two universals of coaching
1. We all work better to feedback.
That’s why we all gain from coaching, and why we are all coaches.
Whether you’re a manager, a parent, or a friend, you have coached others or have been coached to grow, improve, and turn potential into energy and action.
2. We all have blind spots.
The view from inside our heads is always deceptive in some way.
From cognitive biases to emotional hardship, we have an incredible ability to create blinders for ourselves. The perfect antidote is a trusted outsider’s perspective.
You don’t necessarily need to hire a professional coach to act on these truths, or to serve other people’s success. But to succeed more often, and more predictably—be a coach, and have coaches, in your life.
And two particulars to consider
3. It helps to have a cheerleader, and someone holding the stopwatch.
For high performers, the higher the stakes, the harder it can be to feel seen, validated and supported through achieving the seemingly impossible.
To keep ourselves accountable, while also constantly raising the bar, requires having safe places to experience and explore doubts, to think through challenges and productively calibrate our efforts.
4. Coaches have playbooks.
Learning a new tactic or strategy, or an ancient one, can often take our performance from good to great, or from excellent to astonishing.
Wouldn’t it be nice to hear about what could work in any given situation, and what absolutely wouldn’t, before we even tried?
Whether you’re an entrepreneur or executive, to achieve your best, it helps to work with someone who sees the best in you—and inspires you to learn, grow, and act on your objectives.
