Thought leader and author Seth Godin recently wondered aloud why top performers in sports and so many other endeavours have coaches – but in the business world they are the exception.
“It turns out that the people with the potential to benefit the most from a coach are often the most hesitant precisely because of what coaching involves,” he wrote in a recent blog post.
“Talking about our challenges. Setting goals. Acknowledging that we can get better. Eagerly seeking responsibility…And yet we avert our eyes and hesitate. It might be because having a coach might be interpreted as a sign of weakness. And what if we acknowledge our challenges but fail to overcome them?”
He goes on to explain that one company he admires believes in coaches so much that it has put several on staff for the benefit of its leadership team. He goes on, though, to discuss the various reasons leaders are reluctant to embrace coaching.
A big one is a hesitancy to ask for help.
“The paradox is that the very things that hold us back,” he concludes, “are the reasons we need a coach in the first place.”
