“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm” Bobby Knight
Much like any other profession, coaches can benefit from coaching. After almost an 8-year hiatus I recently hired someone to help me improve my current business model. There are some key reasons that one should consider hiring a coach. Here are my reasons for digging into my wallet to pay for this valuable service:
- Continuous improvement
Most coaches understand the value of learning and continuing along the route of personal development. As coaches we look for people who can enhance our knowledge and skills to improve our own coaching practices. This continuous improvement leads to new perspectives. These new perspectives really help in avoiding blind spots or confirmation bias. Having a coach to overlook your process can lead to significant personal growth. The profession of coaching is not 100% about improving others. Coaching requires searching for challenges, setting your own goals or improving your mental health and stress resilience.
- Accountability
Just like an athlete, coaches can benefit from some accountability. Having someone help you stay focused on professional and personal development is invaluable at various stages of our career. Currently I am over 15 years into coaching. I have been in the private sector for all 15 of those years and have had several instances where I took over a team or large group. My coaching practice now needs to set me up for the future. This adventure requires some soul searching and a fresh perspective. By having a coach help me through this process I am avoiding burnout and unneeded stress. Our profession can be both physically and emotionally demanding. Having some support from an outside source can provide an outlet or strategies for managing these challenges effectively. Personally, I am fighting against some complacency. When certain levels of success have been achieved the risk of complacency grows. Regular coaching or periodic check-ins can go a long way to preventing this phenomenon.
- Skill refining
Many times we look for a peer or someone outside of our profession that can help us achieve new skills or more importantly fine tune the current skills we possess. These skills help us to be more effective with our athletes or clients. Having a coach or mentor can provide an outlet to discuss various ethical dilemmas that come up in coaching. The situational management of a team can be challenging and require us as coaches to provide a safe space for our athletes. Dealing with these types of issues is a skill that all coaches must refine and improve on constantly. A fresh perspective is always welcome in these situations. The more skills we can acquire and refine as a coach, the better role model we can be to our athletes, peers and partners. We almost always encourage our athletes to seek out support as needed. By doing this yourself you show that you believe in your own message.
By seeking out coaching for yourself it is not a sign of inadequacy. I would argue it shows that you are committed to your craft and desire to be the best in your field. Refining your coaching skill fosters personal growth, improves the management of challenges and maintains our effectiveness to help others. Be confident enough in your skills to take a beginners mindset into your own coaching development and continue to pursue excellence.