Donna Suro
Michael Jordan: A Lesson in Coach-ability
One of the most important things you can do in your chosen field--or in the pursuit of any goal you wish to achieve in your life--is have the humility to let go of your ego and pride and be willing to listen to those you can learn from. From there, you have to follow up on that learning by acting on what you've learned. In other words, you have to be coachable.
In his book Practice Perfect, Doug Lemov makes the following point:
“People get feedback all the time … This means that they probably practice ‘taking’ feedback quite a bit – they learn to get better at nodding with eye contact, making their tone free of defensiveness, and taking notes even. Recipients may signal that they take feedback seriously … but this does not necessarily mean that they use feedback. Nor does it make them better at employing feedback over time. In fact, the opposite may happen. People may practice ways of taking feedback that help them avoid doing anything about it.”
In other words, we all have practice being on the receiving end of feedback. From our teachers, bosses, family and friends, criticism is never easy to hear but it is a necessary part of growth. Listening to the feedback does not mean you actually hear it, and hearing it does not mean you actually apply it to get better. This takes conscious thought and a willingness to be coachable.
What does it mean to be "coachable"?
Being coachable is about being aware and having the ability to open yourself to the possibility that you don't know everything. You first acknowledge that there is some skill you lack and must develop or strengthen. Next , you must take the initiative to seek one or more mentors, be they in-person mentors or virtual mentors.
Here are some key characteristics of being coachable:
· Be Thankful – realize that people care enough about you to coach you and to spend their time working with you.
· Be Vulnrable – you must accept and know that you are not perfect.
· Be Open – ask for honest feedback, even if it is not easy to hear.
· Be Intentional – work actively to be coachable and to change.
· Have Faith – trust the process! Sometimes things will get worse before they get better. Often the benefits are only obvious after the change has occurred.
For those who find it difficult to ask for help, who think they know it all, or who fear that admitting they need help is in some way demeaning, consider as an example a young Michael Jordan.
"I was a sponge."
Before he was a professional basketball player, Michael Jordan was a North Carolina University Tar Heel, playing under coach Dean Smith. Even as a freshman, Jordan exhibited exceptional talent, but it was still a raw talent, ripe for refinement.
Although Jordan had a swagger about him, he was not above listening. He was coachable. As Roland Lazenby said of Jordan in his 2013 biography Michael Jordan: The Life, "This ability to listen was among his most precious gifts. ... To his coaches, his capacity to be coached was his single most impressive attribute, beyond even the 18-year-old's spectacular physical gifts."
Smith said he "had never seen a player listen so closely to what the coaches said, and then go and do it."
"My greatest skill was being teachable," Jordan said some years later. "I was like a sponge. Even if I thought my coaches were wrong, I tried to listen and learn something."
The Takeaway?
The takeaway here is that coachability is not achieved with more drills or practice of a task. That improves a skill. Coachability takes mental diligence, attention and commitment from you. Jordan opened his mind to being coachable, to learn, to humble himself enough to admit he didn't know it all. He had immense talent, but he knew he could be better.
If there is something in life at which you want to excel become coachable. Try to surround yourself with potential mentors or seek them out, and humble yourself by opening your ears and your mind to what they may have to teach you. Be intentional.
Then, after absorbing the teachings "like a sponge," don't just let them atrophy in your mind. Act on them. Allow those things that work for you to become intuitive, second nature. From there, your talents can fully blossom, and perhaps lead you to greatness.
Michael Jordan: A Lesson in Coach-ability
One of the most important things you can do in your chosen field--or in the pursuit of any goal you wish to achieve in your life--is have the humility to let go of your ego and pride and be willing to listen to those you can learn from. From there, you have to follow up on that learning by acting on what you've learned. In other words, you have to be coachable.
In his book Practice Perfect, Doug Lemov makes the following point:
“People get feedback all the time … This means that they probably practice ‘taking’ feedback quite a bit – they learn to get better at nodding with eye contact, making their tone free of defensiveness, and taking notes even. Recipients may signal that they take feedback seriously … but this does not necessarily mean that they use feedback. Nor does it make them better at employing feedback over time. In fact, the opposite may happen. People may practice ways of taking feedback that help them avoid doing anything about it.”
In other words, we all have practice being on the receiving end of feedback. From our teachers, bosses, family and friends, criticism is never easy to hear but it is a necessary part of growth. Listening to the feedback does not mean you actually hear it, and hearing it does not mean you actually apply it to get better. This takes conscious thought and a willingness to be coachable.
What does it mean to be "coachable"?
Being coachable is about being aware and having the ability to open yourself to the possibility that you don't know everything. You first acknowledge that there is some skill you lack and must develop or strengthen. Next , you must take the initiative to seek one or more mentors, be they in-person mentors or virtual mentors.
Here are some key characteristics of being coachable:
· Be Thankful – realize that people care enough about you to coach you and to spend their time working with you.
· Be Vulnrable – you must accept and know that you are not perfect.
· Be Open – ask for honest feedback, even if it is not easy to hear.
· Be Intentional – work actively to be coachable and to change.
· Have Faith – trust the process! Sometimes things will get worse before they get better. Often the benefits are only obvious after the change has occurred.
For those who find it difficult to ask for help, who think they know it all, or who fear that admitting they need help is in some way demeaning, consider as an example a young Michael Jordan.
"I was a sponge."
Before he was a professional basketball player, Michael Jordan was a North Carolina University Tar Heel, playing under coach Dean Smith. Even as a freshman, Jordan exhibited exceptional talent, but it was still a raw talent, ripe for refinement.
Although Jordan had a swagger about him, he was not above listening. He was coachable. As Roland Lazenby said of Jordan in his 2013 biography Michael Jordan: The Life, "This ability to listen was among his most precious gifts. ... To his coaches, his capacity to be coached was his single most impressive attribute, beyond even the 18-year-old's spectacular physical gifts."
Smith said he "had never seen a player listen so closely to what the coaches said, and then go and do it."
"My greatest skill was being teachable," Jordan said some years later. "I was like a sponge. Even if I thought my coaches were wrong, I tried to listen and learn something."
The Takeaway?
The takeaway here is that coachability is not achieved with more drills or practice of a task. That improves a skill. Coachability takes mental diligence, attention and commitment from you. Jordan opened his mind to being coachable, to learn, to humble himself enough to admit he didn't know it all. He had immense talent, but he knew he could be better.
If there is something in life at which you want to excel become coachable. Try to surround yourself with potential mentors or seek them out, and humble yourself by opening your ears and your mind to what they may have to teach you. Be intentional.
Then, after absorbing the teachings "like a sponge," don't just let them atrophy in your mind. Act on them. Allow those things that work for you to become intuitive, second nature. From there, your talents can fully blossom, and perhaps lead you to greatness.
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