23/10/2012
What do an R&B diva, a warrior and champion cyclist have in common beyond mastery of their domain? They have all had the influence, teaching and guidance of exceptional coaches and mentors.
Months before Cadel Evans won the Tour de France in 2011, his late coach, Aldo Sassi, then dying from four brain tumours said to him, “I hope for you. I’m sure you can win a grand tour. I hope for you it is the Tour de France, because that’s the biggest and most prestigious. And if you do that, you will become the most complete rider of your generation.”
many highly accomplished and successful people can identify at least one person in their lives who acts as a coach or mentor
Aretha Franklin rose to the pinnacle of her career under the guidance of Jerry Wexler (music journalist, record producer and chairman of Atlantic Records) who famously also mentored Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Wilson Pickett, Dusty Springfield, Linda Ronstadt and Willie Nelson to name a few.
And Aristotle famously mentored Alexander the Great while he conquered the world.
While some skills are innate, experience is cumulatively acquired and mastery is honed. So unless you are extraordinarily self-aware and visionary, or just exceptional, you will probably need someone to act as an influence and guide to help you perform at your best. Not surprisingly then, many highly accomplished and successful people can identify at least one person in their lives who acts as a coach or mentor.
most of us forget that we too would benefit greatly from a coach or mentor to help us become better, sharper, greater in our chosen careers
As children, we interact daily with teachers and coaches who teach us new skills, knowledge and help us get better at a multitude of things and we go on to expect and accept the role of a coach or trainer for our leisure and sporting endeavours as adults. Somewhere in there, while professional athletes are pushed “Faster, Higher, Stronger” by their coaches, most of us forget that we too would benefit greatly from a coach or mentor to help us become better, sharper, greater in our chosen careers. Yes, some people have had the great pleasure and privilege of having a manager who also acts as a mentor, but all too often that formal employment relationship is centred around deliverables rather than career progression. Moreover, a manager-report relationship is a two-way relationship and not wholly and specifically about you and your growth, a focus which coaching enables.
As HR consultants, we often work with individuals and organisations on lifting performance. There are a myriad of factors that affect organisational performance and achieving significant enterprise-wide results can take some time, but a career coach can have great influence on individual performance in a relatively short space of time. An experienced, solution-focused coach can assess your current performance, tailor a program to your specific developmental needs and importantly, inspire you to be “Faster, Higher Stronger” in your career.
If you thought your valued employees need extra support, enquire about our coaching services.