Do you need a coach?

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Top athletes have always known that to be their best, they need a talented coach. Tiger Woods has a swing coach. Andre Agassi has employed fitness and sports psychology coaches. Today, however, it seems that no matter what you do, the current wisdom is that you could do it better with a coach. Oprah Winfry has employed fitness and nutrition coaches. High School students on my block have SAT Coaches, voice coaches, dance coaches and math coaches. As a former CEO of a Fortune 500 Company, I know that I could not have been as successful without the many coaches that helped me over the years.
But what about you? Could a coach be just what you need? What does a coach do? How is a coach different from a consultant, counselor or mentor?

The following is an excerpt from “The Next Generation Leader” pages 103- 109 by Andy Stanley:

“In 1972 the youth director in our church decided to reward our church basketball team with a trip to Disney World. I’m not sure why any rational adult would want to take eight teenage boys anywhere for an overnight trip. But then again, Mary Gellerstedt was known for taking chances. Anyway, I have three distinct memories from that trip: playing war in the orange grove next door to our hotel, hearing “Tiny Dancer” by Elton John for the first time and deciding it would be my favorite song for life, and teaching Scott Ward how to do a one-and-a-half flip with a twist at the hotel pool.
Scott Ward was and still is the most fearless individual I know. After returning from an exhilarating day at the park, we all headed for the pool. While the rest of us were content simply to get in the water, Scott decided he would use the time to master the one-and-a-half with a twist.
His first attmept was dismal. A cry arose from the seven of us when Scott did a face plant. As he was making his way back to the diving board, I suggested that he tuck a little tighter and release a little sooner. He did. And as a result, he almost escaped his second attmept without any pain.
This went on for an hour: Scott sacrificing his body and me making suggestions. Before long, Scott had just about mastered a one-and-a-half with a twist. It wasn’t pretty. But it wasn’t painful either.
As he approached the board for the last time, our youth director said, “Andy, I didnt know you were a diver.” I assured her that I wasn’t. Scott stopped halfway up the ladder and gave me a rather perplexed look. “You mean you can’t do this yourself?” I just shook my head and laughed. “Are you kidding? I wouldn’t even try.” At that point, Scott decided to forgo his last attempt, pick me up, and throw me in the pool.
That was my first experience as a coach. And from that experience I learned a valuable lesson: Never suggest anything to Scott Ward that you are not willing to try yourself. Actually, I took two things away from that experience:

1.) I can go farther and faster with someone coaching me than I can on my own.

2.) An effective coach does not need to possess more skills than the person he is coaching.

You will never maximize your potential in any area without coaching. It is impossible. You may be good. You may even be better than everyone else. But without outside input you will never be as good as you could be. We all do better when somebody is watching and evaluating.

Defining the role of a coach in the field of athletics is made easy due to the fact that most of us have been coached ahtletically somewhere in our past. Defining the role of a coach in the realm of leadership is more challenging. For one thing, leadership coaches are not as visible. Unlike some basketball coaches who are often seen running up and down the court barking out instructions to their players, the leadership coach operates behind the scenes.
Consequently, there are men and women in the marketplace and in ministry whom we look up to with the false assumption that they “made it” on their own, that they are what they are because of their talent and discipline alone. As you probe deeper into their stories, however, you will find that each one often had one or two key people who coached them to success.
One of the best ways to understand the role of a leadership coach is to compare coaching to three familiar disciplines: counseling, consulting, and mentoring.

Counseling

The job of a counselor is to help an individual resolve issues of the past in order to operate more effectively in the present. A coach, on the other hand, helps us assess the present so that we can operate more effectively in the future.

Consulting

A consultant is typically engaged for a short time in order to solve a specific problem. A coaching relationship is typically a medium- to long-term prospect. Coaching does not center on problem solving, as it is with consulting. Instead the focus is performance enhancement.

Mentoring

A mentor is usually an older and more experienced person who provides advice and support to a younger, less experienced individual in a particular field. Coaching encompasses all the components of a mentoring relationship, and then some. The primary difference is that in a coaching relationship, the coach often takes more initiative about when and how information is passed along.
Unlike a typical mentoring arrangement, a leadership coach doesn’t simply advise when asked. A coach is going to be more proactive in his instruction and evaluation. A coach is often on the scene watching rather than in an office waiting for a report.
In the world of athletics, the coach does not withold his opinion until asked. Neither does he sit back and watch his protégé make the same mistake over and over without saying something.

In the same way, a good leadership coach will do everything in his power to ensure progress. Like an athletic coach, a leadership coach operates as if he has something on the line. A win for the man or woman he is coaching is a win for himself as well. Wins and losses are personal. Good leadership coaches function as if they have something at stake in your performance.”

Andy Stanley is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and the Pastor of North Point Community Church in Atlanta, Georgia.
He has written a number of books that I believe can significantly help leaders in any profession. His book “Visioneering” is one that I personally recommend to every leader with whom I work.