Everyone Needs A Coach
How many coaches do you have to help you reach your full potential and maximize your skill level? Most ordinary people don't have any coaches. Instead, they try to figure things out themselves. The typical entrepreneur usually has one or two coaches, yet the extraordinary entrepreneur has many more.
Devang Patel, a long-time speech coaching client and now good friend, has 12 coaches. Devang is a financial advisor and serial entrepreneur who owns many businesses and franchises. He has coaches for every business, as well as a life coach, general business coach, spiritual guide coach, health and wellness coach, franchise coach, and speaking coach. You name it, he has a coach for it. He says every coach he hired helped him make even more money and live a better life. Not one was ever an expense; it was always a profitable investment.
When you have a coach, you have the advantage of someone else's perspective on what you are doing. A coach can correct what is not working and reinforce what is working. For example, professional golfers have a swing, putting, and driving coach because each one can see what the golfer is doing correctly, and what they’re doing incorrectly, in each specific area. The same applies to every professional sport; the more specialized the sport, the larger the number of coaches that will be required.
Jeremy Brigham was a Sunday school student of mine when he earned a scholarship to play football at Washington State University as a wide receiver. He was so good that the Oakland Raiders drafted him as a wide receiver. In his rookie year, Jeremy told me that every practice was filmed - every play, every move, every catch. Then, the wide receiver coach would sit down with Jeremy, review the practice films in slow motion, and identify everything he was doing correctly and the areas he needed to improve. As good as Jeremy was, he got a lot better with the coaching he received. The same applies to you. As good as you are now, imagine how much better you could be with the right coach.
Joe Montana is one of the greatest examples of someone whose life changed because of good coaching. The story goes that the 49er's head coach and General Manager, Bill Walsh, heard about a player at Notre Dame who was not that fast, did not have the best arm, and was not that big, but might have some potential. So, he sent his quarterback coach to workout with Joe and asked for a report. When the quarterback coach came back, he told Bill Walsh to draft him, saying that he will be one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game. Walsh was shocked by such a profound statement and challenged his quarterback coach to justify that claim. "I've never seen an athlete that can immediately transform verbal coaching tips into physical action. He is the most coachable athlete I have ever seen; his body responds exactly to what his mind says! He’ll be amazing with our coaching here in San Francisco," said the quarterback coach. As a result, San Francisco drafted him, and Joe played there for 14 years. He won four Super Bowls, was the MVP three times, and still today, has the most passes ever in Super Bowl play without an interception, and also has the highest passing rating ever for a Super Bowl quarterback.
One of the questions people often ask is, what are the benefits of having a coach?
First and foremost, a good coach shares their experience, so you don’t have to go through what they went through.
The second best thing about a coach is they can see what you’re doing from a high level and can offer you suggestions on how to improve.
Third, because they have much more experience than you do, coaches can enhance the level of what you’re doing by sharing tips, tweaks, and techniques that only time and experience bring.
As a full-time professional speaker for over 45 years, paid to speak at over 3,000 meetings, and then coaching over 10,000 speakers on how to avoid making the mistakes ordinary speakers make, I have a wealth of knowledge and experience that transcends virtually any obstacle in speaking.
One specific example to demonstrate how little things can make a big difference was when one of my clients had a crucial presentation to give to a large group of potential prospects. Together, we worked on a great introduction to set him up in the eyes of his audience as a thought leader and expert. During the coaching process, we went over how to talk to the introducer, made sure he was comfortable with the introduction and discussed how important it was to read the opening precisely as written. Then, the day before the event, I told him to bring an extra introduction copy, just in case the introducer misplaced their copy. Sure enough, that happened, but my client reached into his briefcase and pulled out a copy of the introduction, and everything went perfectly well. Of course, that’s a tiny example, but something my client would never have thought of on his own.
How did I know about it? Because it happened to me once, but not twice. And that is what I do for my clients. Help them avoid the mistakes that I’ve made and show them the right way from the beginning to save them stress, time, effort, energy, and money.
If you’re interested in coaching, you need to also think about yourself as the one being coached. Are you open-minded? Are you willing to listen? Are you ready to trust your coach and follow their suggestions even if you’re not sure they’ll work? Some people are not coachable. They think they know everything and that they don’t need help. Yes, sometimes they succeed. The question is, could they have been even more successful with a coach?
If you are willing to be coached, you too can become the Joe Montana in your profession when you have a guide who has been where you want to go. So let's go on this journey together. MAKE it a great day!
