Coaching is simple, but sometimes we get caught up in the nuts and bolts sometimes and forget that we're not coaching robots (pun intended). And what the world could use right now, is better listeners and empathizers...
What can you do to become a better coach?
#1 Get to know your athletes or clients below the surface.
#2 Admit that you don't know everything.
#3 Learn from your athletes or clients.
What can you do to become a better person?
#1 Get to know people, below the surface.
#2 Admit that you don't know everything.
#3 Learn from your community, and surrounding communities.
*Replacement judgement with genuine curiosity.
Sometimes people will be defensive if you come at them with genuinely curious questions. All that means is you have to do the work, through both words and actions, to let them know that your curiosity is coming from a place of care and understanding.
*Instead of digging in on your position, open your arms and take a seat at their side of the table.
Empathy is an adult emotion. If you haven't practiced empathy lately, start. Try to see the world through the eyes of everyone you meet. It doesn't make them right or wrong, but it does make them human, and that's what we all need right now.
*Once you're able to understand their position, learn from that position.
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. - Aristotle
You can learn from everyone you meet if you practice some patience and understanding. The lesson may be big or small, useful or not, but we shape ourselves through learning and experiencing. So to shut yourself off from that experience is small minded. And if you're reading this you probably aren't one to be small minded. So go, be big. Be big, and be better.
