While we often associate coachability with athletes, being coachable is one of the most important life skills you can develop. If you wish to grow, learn, or excel, in sports and in life, you need to be coachable – willing to accept help from others in order to improve yourself.
Coachable people are open to listening to feedback, able to accept constructive criticism without taking it personally, and will look at their own performance with an honest eye in order to improve. So coachability is not just important for athletes. Whether you are an employee, leader or entrepreneur, a student or a teacher, a parent or a child – being coachable is for everyone.
Why Coachability and Success Go Together
People who seek out mentors or coaching from others are not weak or disempowered. They are simply aware, determined, and driven to do better – in business, in life, in relationships, etc. They are willing to have a discussion about how they can improve a skill or something that is important to them. And because they are open to suggestions and willing to try new things, they are far more likely to succeed.
I see it often with my business clients. Being coachable, trying new things, keeping an open mind, and taking action to improve have led to success. Click here to read what they have to say.
How Coachable Are You?
We all know someone who is not viewed as coachable. The employee who takes performance feedback personally. The boss who always thinks he/she is right. The person who is disrespectful of others’ opinions.
Here are a few behaviors that will lead others to believe you are not coachable:
- Not willing to learn new things
- Thinking you are always right
- Not open to change
- Eye rolling or ‘I know’ when engaging with others
- Unable to honestly self-reflect
- Don’t care about improving their situation – life, relationships, health, etc.
- Disrespectful of others and their opinions
- Unwilling to learn or do what is necessary to actually improve
Coachability is all about attitude. If you want to be the best that you can be, open your mind to the possibility that there are things you have not learned yet that could make you even better today or tomorrow. Embrace it.
Related: How to Profit from Others’ Ideas. When someone offers you a new idea for improving your business, do you look for flaws, dismiss them or find ways to apply them? Here’s how to profit from other people’s ideas.
About Joan Nowak
I’ve been helping business owners turn ideas into profits for more than a decade. My whole-business approach empowers my clients and drives improvements in critical areas, including revenue, operations, team development, customer satisfaction, and profitability. Click here to learn more about working with a business coach.