Why Coaches Matter
This story was inspired by conversations with Mark Gmach, president and founder of MG-Insights.
“A good coach can change a game; a great coach can change a life.” — John Wooden
How motivated are you to change your life? How clear are you with your vision of success and the steps you need to take to get there? What does success look like to you four weeks from now? Six months from now? In a year?
If you’re absolutely confident with your answers to these questions — congratulations! If, however, you’re not so sure, then maybe you should think about connecting with a professional coach.
Few will serve you better as a catalyst for change and making your vision a reality than a good coach, someone with the skill, insight and tools to help you live the change you desire.
Too often people look to leaders for inspiring change in themselves when maybe what they really need is a coach or mentor.
If you are thinking about getting a coach, here are some more things to consider
Coaching and Leadership are not necessarily the same thing.
Certainly, there is room for overlap here — good coaches often have the natural-born instincts of leadership, but even the best of leaders are not necessarily good coaches. Therein lies a subtle but critical distinction.
Leaders, by definition, stand at the forefront of success. Possessed of vision, insight and a wealth of life lessons learned, they yearn to cast a vision and inspire others to reach a common goal.
Coaches fill a critical but different role at a hands-on level. They ask the right questions and often unearth the answers found within yourself. They guide. They teach, as well as inspire. Whether working one-on-one or with a team, they have the instinctive desire and capability to be a catalyst for enhancing professional growth and development in others. They are able to channel and focus an individual’s desire to grow.
Once thought of only in the context of organized sports, professional coaches are today found in almost every corner of life: from business, careers and finance to diet, exercise and relationships. Where there used to be a stigma of weakness, of remedial learning, attached to being coached, nowadays it’s practically a badge of honor — you’d be hard-pressed to find a top performer in athletics or business today who doesn’t employ a coach of some kind.
There are no easy fixes to professional growth and development.
According to a survey of 140 leading coaches published in the Harvard Business Review in 2009, here are the top three reasons why coaches are engaged:
1. To develop high potentials or facilitate transitions.
2. To act as a sounding board for ideas
3. To address derailing behavior.
The Harvard report goes on to say, “Executives who get the most out of coaches have a fierce desire to learn and grow.” Before engaging with a coach, it has to be understood that coaches don’t do the work for you; they create a framework for the work that lies ahead. Coaches don’t get results; they prompt you to get the results you want. Stated another way, coaches help others find the answers that were in them all along.
In the words of legendary basketball coach John Wooden, “Nothing will work unless you do.”
Good coaching borrows from the disciplines of consulting and therapy.
Like choosing any partner, success or failure with a coach depends on the two of you being a good fit. Reputation, experience and charged rates don’t mean much if trust and accountability are lacking.
Good coaches are not necessarily subject matter experts, but they are human behavior experts. As stated in the Harvard Business Review report, “It (coaching) starts out with a business bias and inevitably migrates to ‘bigger issues’ such as life purpose, work/life balance, and becoming a better leader.”
Like any therapist or consultant, the best coaches strive to understand their client’s needs and personality. Again, they ask the right questions about who the client is and what they desire from a coaching relationship. From there they collaborate with the client to create a game plan, an incremental strategy, that will help them reach their goals.
Above all, a coach always puts the client’s vision and best interests first.
The key to implementing effective behavioral change lies in focusing on the head and heart, which reveals the how and why behind achieving winning results. That’s why coaches matter, and that’s why the right coach can change a life.
