Nobody Needs a Coach
20th September, 2017
Why would you work with a Coach? Think about it… You already have all the resources within you to get exactly the results that your current level of insight and efforts deserve.
The smart people however… choose to have a Coach.
Let’s imagine… you are beginning to gain great results. You may have been identified as rising talent, becoming really streetwise. Maybe you have won some awards or been headhunted and you are starting to really believe in yourself…
… and then (for some) it happens… Ego in the form of the complacency monster takes over and peer kudos brings with it a reticence to seek support. “I am already doing an awesome job. I know my stuff. What do I need a coach for?”
The very idea of seeking assistance gets confused and misinterpreted as a sign of weakness… something that would undermine your credibility.
Ironic… since the role of the coach is to help you access insight more efficiently… using tools (in the form of coaching exercises / models) to drastically accelerate your progression… and sometimes to find an altogether new direction.
Those who lack clarity in the role of coaching can miss the opportunity to connect with this modality. Face it – you might not ever seek coaching and things could tick along quite nicely thank you very much… until the world around you changes of course… and we all know that shifting contexts are as guaranteed as a changing tide.
So let’s get clear… The very fact that you seek a coach is evidence of knowing the solutions are within you… In a coaching relationship – status remains with you – you have the answers, whilst the coach’s role is to be really great at asking the right questions at the right time…
It is likely at early stages of your professional / personal growth you have been afforded mentoring and guidance. Formally or informally you will have found your “teachers” in the form of people, media, books, experiences.
Now you that you are beginning to really fly… it is time… you are ready to evolve these support relationships into coaching ones… or develop new connections with those who can offer quality coaching.
When you move from mentoring and coaching:
- The level of externally guided direction decreases
- The level of externally offered challenge increases
- The level of support remains constant whilst changing in form
So the question really is – do you acknowledge the value of having your thinking challenged?
Revisit the statement above…
“You already have all the resources within you to get exactly the results that your current level of insight and efforts deserve.”
So how might it be if you accessed your resources in new ways, evolved your ways of thinking, engaged with new approaches to knowing, became open to different insights? How might your efforts be differently directed and rewarded?
