Mark Miller is a Vice President at Chick-fil-A corporate headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. I recently asked him –
As you have interacted with business professionals for more than 30 years at all levels of organizations, what have you found to be their greatest need?
Without hesitating, he said –
Everyone needs a coach – everyone. The majority of people may not agree with me. And most people don’t have a coach. But a coach enhances your natural ability. A coach helps you see and do what you can’t see and do on your own.
A great coach tells you what you may not be prepared to hear, helps you see what you could not see, and can help you improve beyond what you ever thought you could be.
A good coach helps YOU identify what needs to been done, then helps you do it. The ultimate goal of a coach is to lead others to succeed because a great coach believes that every person has the potential to grow.
A coach can lead you to reach your full potential
.
My friend, Raymond Gleason, identified five ways that a coach can help you. A good coach helps you…
- Define your current reality by helping you consider – What is my present situation? Where am I headed?
- Clarify your vision and goals. Many people continually react to their current reality rather than living and working with purpose. A coach first leads you to define what success looks like so you can set goals toward achieving it.
- Identify roadblocks to your vision. This requires that you acknowledge and address areas of comfort and familiarity that are commonly overlooked as barriers to your success.
- Test your thinking, opinions, conclusions, and behavior. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut – doing the same things and thinking the same way while expecting different results.
- Establish accountability by helping you evaluate – Am I making progress? Am I growing? Am I accomplishing my vision? Many get off track because they confuse intent or busyness with progress. A coach helps you accomplish what you set out to accomplish.
So who are you allowing to coach you – to ask you the tough questions on a regular basis?
BONUS: I’m so committed to helping you succeed in your life and work that I’ve created a new event to give you the opportunity to see what it’s like to work one-on-one with a coach. 4 Scholarships Remaining!
A good coach will tell you what you need to hear… not what you want to hear. (PS, your link to Raymond Gleason does not work)
That’s part of the “life planning” process I’m working on–need to find someone that asks those hard questions.
We all need that. Let’s talk soon about how to move forward in this area. I’d like to help you if I can. Enjoy your week.
I’d appreciate that–not always easy to make the right connections.
This is a good read and opportunity. Regular and quality performance evaluation like 360 degree can still serve if resources are not available. Thanks for the useful post.
Thank you, Deepak.
Michael, I met a potential coach last week. I just had a “few more things to do” before I’m ready. You’ve motivated me to commit – I’m jumping in.
That’s great – hope the “homework” goes well!
Great post, Michael. I feel so privileged to have amazing people coaching me in different areas of my life.
Thanks Tammy. I feel the same way!