I was talking to one of my clients (an ex-international sportsperson) recently and at one stage during our session she said “even world champions need coaches“. I was struck by how simple and yet profound this statement is. If you look at the field of sports I can’t think of a world champion or professional sportsperson or team that doesn’t have a coach – Usain Bolt, Rory McIlroy and Novac Djokavic all have coaches despite being superb world class professionals.
Why do elite sports people have coaches? Because they understand that their careers have been built on continuous learning and development. They never stop trying to find that extra fraction of a second or making that great decision in the moment. That is what makes them world class in the first place. When starting out young sports men and women are coached on the basics of their sport – focusing on the how to play. That coaching becomes increasingly more sophisticated as they improve moving from skill and techniques to strategy, mental preparation, coping with failure and dealing with success.
Most business owners are similar to elite sportspersons – they are totally committed to their business, they strive to be the best they can and they make sacrifices in their personal lives. I know for sure that when I was running my own business for 11 years, I was all these things and more. Yet I know I wasn’t a world class business owner and regret not having a coach during those years.
C+S Management Development & Training 