3 Reasons Why You Don’t NEED a Coach (But Why You Might WANT One)
What IS A COACH?
There are many ways we define the term “coach”. In sports, a coach is a term often used to describe someone in charge of training an athlete or a team. In other fields such as singing or acting, a coach is someone that gives private instruction. A coach is also traditionally defined as a means of transportation such as “a railcar where passengers ride” or a “carriage pulled by horses with one driver”.
The common theme from all of these definitions is someone that helps someone else move from a Point A to Point B.
What IS A LEADERSHIP COACH?
A leadership coach helps someone move closer towards their professional goals. Contrary to what some people believe, a leadership coach is not only for people that “need” coaching (i.e., those that are under-performing and need move to a point of meeting expectations). In fact, coaching is not always effective in these situations because you can’t coach someone who doesn’t believe that they need help!
Coaching is most effective for high-performers – those that are already meeting or exceeding expectations and want to stretch themselves even further and move even higher. This is true in sports, and it’s also true in the workplace in the context of executive and leadership coaching.
Do You NEed A Coach?
The answer is NO (but you might want one). Here’s why:
1. Because you’ve achieved so much already without a coach
If you’re here reading this, you’re likely a high-performer, a high-achiever, someone with a growth mindset. You don’t fit the bill of someone that “needs coaching”.
As highlighted above, it’s the high-performers that actually benefit most from coaching. A coach can bring a fresh perspective on personal and professional challenges and ask thought provoking questions to help you discover your best path forward. Someone with a growth mindset and commitment to the process will see a much larger Return on Investment (ROI) from their coach. Research has shown that coaching often yields an ROI in the range of 700% to 800%. Coaching can be hugely valuable for someone that is committed to growth, welcomes feedback, is open to hearing different perspectives, wants to be held accountable, and is striving to be their best!
2. Because you will make it through each day and move forward one way or the other
With or without a coach, you will still get by.
A coach can simply help you move through your days with more confidence and ease, bring more clarity to your decision making, and draw out a clear focus for how you want to move forward. A coach will help you prioritize what matters most to you, stay accountable to your goals, and become more productive (a study completed by Harvard Business Review found that coaching boosts productivity by approximately 44%!).
3. Because you already have everything you need to get to that next level of success
A coach isn’t going to give you anything that you don’t already have access to. You already have everything you need in you and an endless number of resources to help you. You can move from your Point A to Point B on your own without a coach!
Working with a coach will simply accelerate your path to that next level of success and help you avoid the feelings of stress and overwhelm that come with trying to do it alone.
Let’s think back to the traditional definition of a coach being a carriage or a railcar. These modes of transportation aren’t a necessity to get people from where they are (Point A) to where they want to go (Point B) – the other option might be to walk without help from the coach. But if you’re on difficult terrain or have a long way to go, a coach would certainly help to make your journey faster and more enjoyable!
To learn more about leadership coaching or how to work with me, send me an email at megan@repoweredleadership.com. I would love to hear from you!
