New Year, New Resolutions… Most readers of this blog are involved in analysis & coaching, we all profess the need for good quality coaches and know the difference this can make to performance; so hands up who has a coach? If you believe so passionately in the need for a coach shouldn’t you have one yourself? Maybe coach is the wrong word, perhaps mentor is better; “an experienced and trusted advisor”. Somebody to bounce ideas off, examine your performance from a distance, someone who is not involved in your day-to-day personal or professional life who can give you some honest feedback.
Believe in The Coaching Process?
All of us have seen or quoted the coaching process, highlighting the need for good quality observation and feedback. So why not apply the same thinking to our own performance. As analysts or coaches we are performing and we all know how hard it is to accurately monitor your own performance. Sure some self reflection is a great step forward, I have seen numerous coaches speaking highly of the process of spending a little bit of time after a session putting there thoughts on paper. But is that really enough, while we might encourage it, we wouldn’t leave our athletes to analyse themselves 100% of the time.
I have had a coach since 2009. The primary reason was to help me with my business and I can point to a number of opportunities that simply wouldn’t have happened without the advice I got. My coach Peter Nolan is a business coach with a background in sports and he has helped me develop both my business and as a Performance Analyst. Being an outsider can be an advantage. Often you come to the realisations yourself, simply spending 2 hours talking about your career, job, last session you realise what you need to work on. But a lot of the time your mentor can guide you in different ways, highlight points of view you didn’t think about and most importantly push you outside your comfort zone.
Make it a Priority
So as the New Year get’s going perhaps it’s time to practice what you preach and find a coach or mentor. With tools like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter it has never been easier to reach out and ask for help. Not everyone will have the time or skills to help you but it is worth spending the time to find the right person. The main thing is it needs to be consistent, meeting every month or two is a great start. I can speak from experience and say having a good coach will improve you, but as a coach you already knew that right???
