“Why would anyone want to hire a personal/executive coach?”
I get
this question regularly from friends, colleagues, and people that I meet while
networking. I’ve been working on my answer for a long time and I think the one
I like the best is, “Because they want to be their personal best!”
When I
first took up golf, many years ago, I got the bug really badly. I was hooked on
the game and wanted to get better at it and fast. I practiced. Hard. One summer,
I hit a thousand shots a day in the field behind my parents’ house, completely
wearing out the grooves on the face of my pitching wedge in the process. I
figured that’s how you got better at things; by doing them over and over. As a
result, I didn’t take my first lesson from a PGA teaching professional until I
was over 60! I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I’d gotten that “coach”
at a much earlier age. I eventually got my handicap down to single digits (it
isn’t any more!) but what could that have been?
I tell
this story to highlight a couple of different things.
First,
hard work will only get you so far. Don’t misunderstand, you absolutely need to
work hard to get really good at nearly anything. Misplaced hard work, however, will
require you to take longer to reach your goals. You’ll need to be aware of
everything going on in your life, or the task at hand, and critique yourself in
order to work on the right things. If your sense of self is anything like most
people’s, you’re not prepared to do this, at least not with a high degree of
efficiency.
Many
people, as a result, end up working on the wrong things and taking too long to
make the improvements that would help them.
Second,
unlike learning to play golf, work is not a repetitive process for most working
people these days. You may find yourself performing many different tasks over
the course of a day; meeting with different personalities, chairing meetings,
managing people on your team, being managed by your boss. All these things
require you to be engaged and focused. In many cases, they require you to learn
as you go. This environment often takes most or all your energy and attention
to get the job done in a high quality manner. That makes it difficult to step
back and look at the bigger picture of your life.
The
result? You find yourself working in some roles longer than you should, missing
promotions and other opportunities to learn and grow and shine. You suddenly
wake up and realize you’ve been in the same role for five years.
So,
how does a personal coach help you find the short cut to success?
A
certified coach has been through a rigorous training process, learning how to help
you get the most out of yourself.
·
They
use different techniques to help understand your strengths and how to use them.
·
They
may show you how to identify the things you don’t do as well and either shore
them up or avoid using them.
·
They
hold a mirror up to help you see how others see you and then help you decide if
that’s the image you want to project or decide if there is a different one.
·
They
help you plan the best and most efficient method for getting you to where you
want to go.
·
They
tell you things you need to hear, and not necessarily what you want to hear and
hold you accountable for your actions.
·
They
help you develop your plan for today and the future.
Is a personal coach right for you?
If they’re the right one for you, yes. Not
every coach is right for every person – we’re humans, after all – but if there
is a connection between the two of you the results can be almost magical. (If
there isn’t a connection, keep looking.)
Ready to begin?
Call me and see if we connect.
