The Detroit Lions just ended one of their most successful seasons in franchise history. While it didn’t end the way that most fans would have liked there were so many valuable lessons learned along the way that will only help them achieve at their highest levels moving forward. Thought I’d share one of them.
After their second playoff win, one of the heroes of the game was a young linebacker named Derrick Barnes. Entering his third season in the league, this young player had failed to reach the expectations of his draft status and by some accounts was seen by many outsiders from the organization as a bust.
Yet here he was now a starter on one of the best teams in the league and his late interception sealed the victory for the hometown Lions. In the post-game interview, he was asked about his journey over the past 3 years and how he was able to achieve at this level. His response “Hard work, perseverance, and BE COACHABLE”
This week I want to ask you a valuable question?
Are you coachable?
In over 20 years of coaching high performers, I’ve learned is that success at any level usually isn’t for lack of talent and ability, that a given. It’s usually something else. While that something else can be elusive to decipher, a fundamental component of high performers is that they are, and almost always remain Coachable.
What does it mean to be coachable?
Here are 3 main characteristics we’ve found that would make someone coachable. See if they apply to you?
- Be open to feedback, both positive and constructive. Can you accept feedback in a way that allows you to own your own brilliance by saying thank you to the positive feedback? And are you willing to hear the constructive feedback without getting defensive or angry and apply that feedback even when it takes you out of your comfort zone? Feedback in a valuable and expensive gift so don’t expect it from cheap people. Those that have gone out of their way to provide you with that feedback have shown they are invested in you and your success. Accepting and applying feedback is a hallmark of high performers and high achievers and one of the quickest and most efficient ways to improve performance at any level.
- Willingness to be completely honest with yourself. We all have unique strengths and talents, as well as opportunities for growth and improvement. Are you willing to be open and honest regarding both? To be coachable you must first show that you can look at yourself in the mirror and ask how your own behaviors have created all the outcomes you have received in your business and in your life. Honesty leads to finding your true path and helps provide the compass along your road to success. Without honesty you end up focusing on the wrong things and inevitably end up right back where you started.
- This last one may sound simple but to be coachable you must “Show Up”. Are you on time, available, present and willing to show up when the opportunity for coaching and improvement is there, or do you blow it off, cancel, arrive late or not at all? Maybe you are there, but you are too scattered and busy to truly be present and in the moment so when the opportunity to grow and improve arrives you miss it and in turn you miss out. To truly be Coachable you must first Show Up, fully present, aware, and ready to put in the work even when it’s inconvenient or you aren’t really feeling like you want to.
While there are obviously other qualities of those that are coachable, if these 3 fundamental attributes do not exist in the coaching candidate, then we are all simply wasting our valuable time and efforts. Remember, talent is a given but being coachable can true make the difference between success and non-success.
This week ask yourself…
Am I coachable?
How do I accept feedback?
Am I willing to be completely honest with myself?
Do I show up fully present and ready to do the work?
If the answer to all of these is YES then you are well on your way to being coachable winning the most important championship event…
Your life!
Cheers to you and your success
And to being Coachable
One Quarter Turn at a Time
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