Fortune magazine recently interviewed Eric Schmidt, Google’s Chairman and CEO, in a series asking CEO’s to reveal the “best advice I ever got”. Mr. Schmidt’s comment? “Hire a coach.”
At first, he rejected the idea thinking of coaching in a remedial sense – to help correct something that was wrong. He soon learned, however, that a coach’s role is to help you be better, perform better.
Using a typical sports analogy, more specifically, Mr. Schmidt said this: “The coach doesn’t have to play the sport as well as you do. They have to watch you and get you to be your best. In the business context a coach is not a repetitious coach. A coach is somebody who looks at something with another set of eyes, describes it to you in [his] words, and discusses how to approach the problem.” Here’s what else he had to say:
From my perspective as a trained and certified executive and business development coach, nobody needs a coach, again in the remedial sense, but anyone who is “coachable” can benefit greatly from working with one.
So what does it mean to be coachable?
Someone highly coachable
• can be relied upon to be on time for all calls and appointments
• is willing and able to incorporate the benefits of coaching in their life and business
• is fully willing to do the work and let the coach do the coaching
• will keep their word without struggling or sabotaging
• is willing to “try on” new concepts or different ways of doing things
• speaks straight and tells the whole truth to the coach with both respect and compassion
• can immediately share if they are not getting what they need or expect from the coach, and discuss what they want and need from the relationship
• is willing to stop or change the self-defeating behaviors that limit success (such as blaming, justification, complaining or problem-identification without contribution of possible solutions)
• recognize that coaching is an investment in this coaching program and intend to get as much as possible from the experience
• sees coaching as a worthwhile activity to improve effectiveness in life and business
• can share the credit for success with the coach and others
Choose a qualified coach – one with experience and coach-specific training, and preferably one certified by an independent professional body that requires adherence to a code of professional ethics. Then, if you have, or are willing to develop these “coachability” traits, get ready to skyrocket your success at whatever you choose to work on with a coach.