BITE ONE
5 MIN READ
REASON #1
“Leadership and influence is just plain hard, so we may as well gather as many skills as we can.”
WHY BOTHER LEARNING TO BE A COACH
To be really blunt, our time is our most precious asset. It’s completely unrenewable and the further we go in our career or life, the less we have of it. So above all else, we don’t want to waste our time, or the time of others.
So before you engage in this, let’s first establish why you would bother…
Effective coaching can shift teams and individuals away from doing same-same, towards more creativity, curiosity and cohesiveness. Teams and individuals, empowered to put their thinking caps on, are eager to solve problems rather than complain, want to innovate rather then stagnate and bring an energy, to their lives and the lives of others, that sets them apart from the pack.
When we really break things down, the core of leadership is service to others. People centred. Because you’re dealing with people, their emotions, their reactions and their uncertainties, leadership and influence is just plain hard. It only gets harder if you are not equipped or trained in the necessary human skills to make the process work.
Anyone who has been in the game long enough knows this is true. Just take em out for a drink and hear the war stories flow.
More and more our culture is realising that ‘soft skills’ are actually the ‘hard skills’. To commit to learning to coach others is an act of stepping up and being willing to face the hard. It’s courageous.
So why bother learning to coach?
#1 BECAUSE LEADERSHIP AND INFLUENCE IS JUST PLAIN HARD, SO WE MAY AS WELL GATHER AS MANY SKILLS AS WE CAN.
REASON #2
“Influence requires insight”
Have you ever experienced an incompetent leader? Have you ever encountered someone in a position of leadership in your life who said something so damaging you still remember their words to this very day?
Brene Brown, an American sociologist, has conducted thousands of interviews on the impact of shame and vulnerability in people’s ability to live wholeheartedly. She notes; “85 percent of the men and women we interviewed for the shame research could recall a school incident from their childhood that was so shaming, it changed how they thought of themselves as learners”. (Brene Brown, Rising Strong) Teachers are the first real leaders we encounter in our development and it’s sobering to consider how easily damage can be done through stray words and thoughtless acts.
The responsibility of being a leader is enormous. Our power to do good is only matched by our capacity to hurt. Often unwittingly, often from a place of pain or limitation, many leaders have fallen short.
It’s easy to sit in criticism of this, but when you’ve lead long enough, you know there are so many tensions in the art of influencing and connecting with others, it can be so easy to get wrong. Real influence, the positive kind that can grow and support a person to explore their best selves, requires great insight and wisdom. It’s not something that just comes naturally.
To be good at what we do, we need to improve our understanding of the way humans are wired. We have to know ourselves; the way we turn up; our hot spots and buttons. We have to be able to see ourselves and the impact we have on others with clarity and discernment. Learning to be a powerful coach will start you on this journey.
So what is the next reason why we should bother learning to be a coach?
#2 BECAUSE INFLUENCE REQUIRES INSIGHT
REASON #3
“Our society, our workplace, the people in our circle of influence need leaders brave enough to connect.
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Humans are designed for connection. Our evolutionary biology has hard wired us so. To be separated from the tribe, to be cut off; that used to be a death sentence. In many ways, it still is. Get curious about our need for connection and you will find mountains of research that proves this is true. We must have connection. An influential and powerful leader does just that; they connect.
Now, you may have started to notice we’re using the word ‘leader’ a lot when considering ‘coaching’. Yep! You’re onto us. We absolutely are, because they’re absolutely the same thing. To coach someone is a powerful act of leadership. It may take on a unique and specific role, but don’t be fooled, it’s leadership all the same. So the third and final reason…
#3 BECAUSE OUR SOCIETY, OUR WORKPLACES, THE PEOPLE IN OUR CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE NEED LEADERS BRAVE ENOUGH TO CONNECT.
SO THERE’S THREE GOOD REASONS WHY LEARNING TO BE A COACH WOULD BENEFIT YOU. WE’LL REFLECT ON THIS LATER. FOR NOW, HEAD TO THE NEXT BITE TO KEEP LEARNING…