“That’s bull **** and you know it!” interrupted my friend Alan Snyder
And with that, I was reminded of the value of coaching.
Alan knows leadership. As a CEO, a Managing Partner and Founder, he has built multiple successful companies from the ground up. Along the way learning a thing or two about “straight talk.” He’s also a generous man who had invited me into his office this sunny afternoon to discuss my career.
Looking out from the top floor of his Wilshire Boulevard office, he correctly identified I had been lying to myself. It was the ::slap:: I needed. Quickly presenting a career choice never entertained.
That is a what a great coach does. ::slap:: They help you get unstuck.
I just finished a series on the Modern Leadership Podcast exploring success and influence. In my research, I read about Elite Achievers in business like, Jeff Bezos, Steven Spielberg, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, and the root of their success.
Guess what they all credit?
Surprise! They all recognize coaching as the catalyst to overcoming the enormous obstacles.
Most identified more than one mentor assisting different aspects of their life. Different problems, different coaches. They assist in identifying areas of focus as well as areas of avoidance. A good coach can save you time, help you see blind spots, develop creative ideas and stay accountable.
TIME
Author Harvey MacKay says, “Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.” A coach helps you shortcut the learning curve, spend less time learning and more time doing.
BLIND SPOT IDENTIFIER- OBJECTIVE FEEDBACK
A coach creates a safe environment to explore areas of your life that are holding you back. As a driver, you are familiar with the blind spot in a car, that little area over your shoulder where cars hide from mirrors and turning heads. We have those same sneaky cars in our lives. Things unseen that are disastrous when trying to merge lanes.
CREATIVE IDEAS
With a team 1+1 can be more than 2. Your idea builds on your teammates idea and his then builds on yours, and so on. The concluding solution formerly never existed. A coach stimulates creativity in the same way a teammate can. Your coach brings a different background, experience and perspective. Different creativity.
ACCOUNTABILITY
It is easy to get excited and start, much harder to keep going. I call this the messy middle, the place where goals go to die. Your coach ensures that you stay in committed pursuit of your desired goal. Sometimes a nudge, often a push and occasionally the ::slap:: you need.
Whether you are a professional golfer (Tiger Woods), a software billionaire (Bill Gates), a major movie maker (Steve Spielberg) or an aspiring success story (you: ), we can all take our businesses and lives to the next level by surrounding ourselves with those who will push us. Did you know that not having a coach is limiting your success?
