4 Mistakes Hindering Your Coachability As A Leader

What is coachability ?

Coachability is the willingness to accept feedback and the ability to improve. As a leader, you should be a person who loves challenges and think differently. I want to share something from my learning journey. Heard something really powerful from an expert he said, “It’s never been a better time to be alive if you think differently”.

Read the last part of the statement again, it says “if you think differently”. Yes, if you are innovative or creative as a leader this is the best time to capitalize on the opportunities you receive. Leadership is all about getting into unfamiliar territory. As a leader you must be willing to accept feedback and improve continuously.

What will happen if you don’t ?

Being coachable is a process of unlearning and re-learning. During this process you get to study and analyze behaviors and mindsets. If you are unable to do this you will fall back to old patterns and old behaviours which will generate the same old results which were not the ones you expected. Therefore, you need to change your game.

How can you change your game ?

The only way to do this is by being coachable. It’s uncomfortable. You should have plenty of courage to accept feedback from others and improve. If you are willing to get into this mindset you will see progress in you and your organization. As a leader you must have the ability to transform uncomfortable situations into comfortable ones.

Before you make an attempt to change the behaviour of your team members, you must change your behaviour first. It’s the only way that your team will change. If they see you taking risks and going through the discomfort, they will follow suit. Sometimes, as a leader who may feel that your team is not doing enough. Then, you need to think “Do I know the full capacity of my team ?”. If the answer is “No”, you need to get into your coachability mode, get feedback and figure out way to make incremental progress.

However, many leaders diminish their coachable characteristics due to certain mistakes. These mistakes are ones that can be prevented.

Here are 4 mistakes hindering your coachability as a leader;

1. Not Asking Questions

When you are provided with constructive criticism, you must ask questions. If you fail to ask questions, you would not be able to figure a way out of the problems you are facing. This should be done with a calm mind.

2. Having Excuses

If you hear something negative about yourself, do not have excuses and put the blame on your team or someone else. Instead, focus on listening to the message and convert the negativity into positivity.

3. Ego

Nothing destroys coachability like ego. The biggest harm ego does to you is that you would not figure out that you are not updated or you lack information. If you get rid of your ego, you would be able to keep track on the knowledge you gain and the information you gather.

4. Not Learning From More Experienced Persons

Coaching is designed to take you out of the comfort zone. As a leader, your aspiration has to be move out of the comfort zone at all times and look for new challenges. When you begin to enter into this mindset, you need expert advice and opinion. Therefore, always learn from more experienced and knowledgeable personnel.

If you overcome these mistakes, you will become a world-class leader.

If you are a leader of this caliber;

Let’s have a conversation…

Wish You Success !

Sasanka Dias