“Leaders are made, they are not born.” Vince Lombardi
Like any red-blooded Canadian, sports helped shaped my life. Not just because I loved watching and participating in them, but because they helped introduce me to structure, accountability, teamwork and—above all else—good coaching.
After that, I found that in every situation in my life—whether out on the field or in the boardroom—every good decision I ever made came with the perspective, guidance and support of someone who did it before me. Learning from the successes and mistakes of others has helped me grow leaps and bounds beyond anything I could have ever done on my own.
Three beliefs I have about coaching and growth:
There are many ways to get coached.
There is being a mentee and learning from someone senior to you that has experienced it before. There is peer mentorship, which provides camaraderie and competitive fire to be and do better. Finally, there is being a mentor yourself, teaching and mastering your craft. Here is a blog post I wrote on the subject (Link). Working hard and pushing through obstacles early in your career shows you are coachable and increases the likelihood that mentors will find you.
Collaboration is the key to growth
It has never been easier to be connect with and get coached by all sorts of leaders who put out great product in books, podcast, blogs, video, etc. You can’t do it alone. Winning as a team and partnering is the best way to succeed. Share your best ideas freely, pay it forward and you will get way more back in return. Leverage your own strengths and partner with those who have unique skill sets you can grow from.
Accountability is the way
DWYSYWD. Do what you say you will do. This has been a journey for me. I work on it every day. If each of us did what we said we would do against our goals, we can be truly magnificent in our results. I chose to take on a business and life coach nearly a decade ago and the three biggest areas it supports me in is: 1. Objective perspective. 2. Access to knowledge 3. Accountability. Like track and field coaches kept me accountable to the proper technique and form in order to meet personal best times, coaching keeps me on track to achieve big dreams.