Are you really, truly, honestly coachable? We all like to think we are open-minded, willing to see others’ perspectives, willing to learn from other people without questioning or feeling threatened. And then, we get into a situation where we need to be coached by someone else and we buck the system.
I get it. It’s hard to be coached in a work environment by someone you don’t respect or that you believe has less experience than you do. You are thinking “what can they teach me, they know nothing!”
The first step in being coachable is a mindset. You have to be willing to learn from someone else. Being willing to learn from someone else doesn’t mean they deserve to be in the role they are in, or that they are smarter and better than you, it simply means that we can all learn something from each person around us and we have to have that mindset in order to be effectively coached. Now that perspective is more focused on coaching in the corporate world; where you are going to be coached by your supervisor, someone you did not seek out to give you advice usually.
In the real world, being coachable means you are ready to run fast in your business and you want someone to help you overcome the barriers in your way slowing you down or that may prevent you from achieving success. You actively look for and find someone to help you with that.
But here’s the deal, coaching is uncomfortable. Lots of people don’t realize that until they are already signed up with a coach. Many people assume that coaching is all about you finding someone who has the knowledge you need, and you just pick their brain to get the details. That’s not the case. Think about being on a sports team. Yes, the coach teaches you what you need to know to be a better player, but they also push you, drive you, and help you become a more well-rounded player too.
So again, being coached can be uncomfortable. Coaches ask you lots of questions and want to understand where you want to be (so you have to know that), and push you to try new things (that you may not have thought of and now consider risky). Coaching requires growth. If you don’t want to tackle personal growth. Well, first, don’t be an entrepreneur but second, don’t hire a coach. A coach exists to help you grow into the person you are meant to be. Which means you will live outside of your comfort zone. The positive is that you are already living outside of your comfort zone in starting your business, and with a coach, you aren’t living there alone!
Everyone in the business world needs a coach. I’m a firm believer in that. We all need coaches to help us move ourselves to the next level so then we can move our businesses to the next level.
If you don’t have a coach, get one. Know that hiring a coach is different than coaching in the corporate world. But that is also a very good thing. If you are looking for a coach to help you start your business while working your corporate job or you are running your startup and you want to master the 9 pillars of business, we would love to support you at Legend Leaders.
Be Legendary!