Great leaders have coaches to work with them to explore what they need to do to achieve the next level of development. You may ask, “why don’t we hear these great leaders note that they had a coach or many coaches?” Coaches are a private choice to the process of personal exploration. The greatness of leadership is within each of us to uncover, explore and achieve.
Let us take a step back and define what a coach is. Kevin Hall in his book, Aspire, notes this: “A ‘coach’ remains something, or someone, who carries a valued person from where they are to where they want to be.” Christian Simpson, executive coach and faculty member of the John Maxwell Team, states coaching is “whenever someone is asking open, explorative questions and listening deeply”.
Coaching in the sense of becoming a better leader is unlike that of a coach in sports. The latter is primarily an experienced tactician, imparting their experience and knowledge upon players to improve their performance.
The former is a person more dedicated to helping you explore your inner capability than you are. There is no one way that helps the person being coached reached the end result. The process is a journey of self-exploration guided by a person so in tune with who they are and their ability to seek success in others.
Across the world, there are many examples of a coach in both role and language. They include: · In Japan, sensei, meaning who one has gone further
· In Sanskrit, guru, meaning who takes someone from darkness into the light
· In Tibet, lama, meaning one with spirituality and authority to teach
· In Italy, maestro and maestro de cappella
· In France, tutor
· In England, guide, meaning one who knows and shows the way · In Greece, mentor
Coach or related description is one who goes before and shows the way. Leaders may note that they don’t require a coach. This is a disservice to the person and shows signs of a limit or obstacle the person places on their development.
Having a coach lead the exploration to the next level is necessary to set an effective plan to reach greatness. Are you ready to seek a change toward even greater levels of leadership, Joe Dutkiewicz will work with you to realize your success just waiting to be explored.
