ARE YOU COACHABLE?
Being coachable is an important yet challenging responsibility we have in life and performance. If you’re reading along here today as someone who has a coach, then it’s worth considering how committed you are to doing what champions do in this area. If you don’t currently have a coach, you might be wondering whether or not this message applies to you. But I’ll tell you up front today that I’m not really that interested in whether or not you have a coach. Today I’m interested in whether or not you possess two of the key qualities that all coachable people possess - qualities that define the champion in any area of life.
The first of those qualities is a hunger to improve. For coachable people, improvement is imperative. People don’t typically welcome coaching into their experience because it’s fun and enjoyable. In fact, getting coached can be downright difficult. But coachable people are desperate to get better. They are constantly searching for any information they can use to improve, and they recognize their coach as a valuable resource in that pursuit.
If coachable people are hungry, then uncoachable people could be considered content. They are typically satisfied with who they are and aren’t particularly interested in learning and improving. The problem, of course, is that this version of themselves probably isn’t good enough to take them where they say they want to go. Who they are has gotten them to this point, but doing something bigger and more significant will require something better. Getting better at pretty much anything requires some discomfort and some inconvenience, and content people don’t like discomfort and inconvenience. That disconnect keeps them from growing and changing, and typically keeps them from becoming the people that winning requires them to be.
The other key quality of coachable people is toughness. Toughness can be defined a number of ways, but for coachable people, toughness is humility. Coachable people know that pride and ego are the markers of counterfeit toughness. And while humility is often associated with modesty or meekness, it’s actually evidence of an authentic sense of confidence and strength. The honest instruction and authentic feedback that comes from coaching can be beneficial, but it can also be painful. That’s because sometimes - if we’re being honest - the truth hurts. But coachable people are tough people, and they can bear the heavy weight that comes with hearing even the cold, hard truth.
Uncoachable people, on the other hand, are often defined by their lack of toughness. Pride and insecurity inflate their ego, and in the process make them weak and fragile. Without the strength of humility, the weight of honest instruction and authentic feedback is too much for them to bear. Uncoachable people will take a comforting lie over the unpleasant truth every time. They don’t have a choice, really. It’s the only way to keep themselves from falling apart.
Hunger and humility. Progress and persistence. Toughness and truth. These are the qualities that define the champion in any area of life. So when I ask you today if you are coachable, I’m asking you to honestly evaluate who you are in these important areas. If you’re someone who’s content with who they are and committed to the comfortable and convenient way forward? If you’re afraid of honest instruction or authentic feedback? If your pride and insecurity have made you weak and fragile? Then you probably aren’t very coachable. Today's a great day to recognize the negative role that plays in your performance, and a great day to consider what a better, stronger, and more useful approach might look like.
If, on the other hand, you are someone who’s desperate to get better and committed to learning and improving? If you’re someone who recognizes that doing something bigger and more significant than you’ve ever done requires you to be better than you’ve ever been? And if you’re someone who possesses the humility, the toughness, and the strength to live in the truth, even when it’s hard to hear? Then you’ve got what it takes to be coachable, and you’ve got what it takes to win.