The GOATs have coaches. So should you.

I played volleyball and a softball in high school at DeLaSalle High School - Minneapolis . My junior year, I made the varsity volleyball team for the wrong reasons: I was a junior and a belief existed that juniors advanced to varsity. An early example of entitlement.

Let’s be clear. I didn’t suck. I was a solid setter. I just wasn’t better than any of the other setters on the team. I spent my junior season riding the bench and got little court time. But gosh darn it, I’d made varsity! I had a letter for the varsity jacket I never bought.

So when softball tryouts came in the spring, I was ready to accept my pre-ordained spot on the varsity bench.

Except I didn’t make the cut.

I still remember my stomach dropping and my eyes burning with tears as I scanned for my name on the roster. A girl standing next to me stated the obvious: “You didn’t make varsity!”

Other juniors were on the list, but not me. I’d been relegated to JV. Even more painful: I was the only junior on that team.

The JV coach was a guy named Jim Nunn. He coached wrestling and was also assistant varsity softball ?coach. He is the only coach I really remember from four years of playing high school sports.

This is why: Knowing I’d be upset, he sought me out immediately and explained his rationale: “I could put you on varsity. You’d sit on the bench all year and get no play time, just like your volleyball season. Or, you can stay on JV. Play every game, improve your skills and be a leader on the team.”

It was an ego blow and while it was hard to hear, his honesty and transparency made a major impact on me. I accepted the spot on JV, became team captain and played every game. I got better at second base. I mastered the art of bunting and the fake bunt. I had fun.

Not only did I make varsity my senior year, I served as co-captain. Coach Nunn was promoted, as well, to head coach of the varsity team. Banner year for both of us.

I get it. Not everyone played sports or digs sports analogies, but you don’t have to be a sport fanatic to see what Coach Nunn did here. He assessed my potential, gave candid feedback, and offered the space and tools for me to develop my skills. Just as importantly, he gave me an emotional life jacket by empowering me to exercise my strength in leadership. He was a positive and formative influence on me.

Get you a coach who does that for you.

Think of the GOATs in athletics. Did they wait until the Olympics or Super Bowl or World Cup to get a coach? Of course not. Neither should you.

I currently have two coaches in my life. One is for business. The other golf. Both make me better as a human. That might be surprising to hear about a golf coach, but his approach to mastery and learning gave me new perspective not just on the golf course, but professionally and personally.

I met my executive coach early in my tenure at PCC Community Markets. Our CEO was a first-timer and found value in having a coach. Luckily for me, Erin Dorsey’s philosophy is to coach the CEO and their direct reports.

It was one of the greatest gifts I received during my PCC tenure. While I was skeptical to start, I rapidly became a vocal ambassador. When I received the AAA Washington offer, one of the first calls I made was to Erin to ask her to be the executive coach for myself and my new team. I am eternally grateful she said “yes.”

Erin meets with each of us monthly and ad hoc as needed. We do annual retreats. She reminds us that we trust who we know, encouraging us to get to know each other beyond the conference room.

She pushes us to have honest conversations with each other and gives us the tools to better communicate. (Enneagrams are our primary tool. I was also a skeptic about this in the beginning, and now can’t stop talking about it. Possibly the best personality assessment I’ve ever taken and an excellent tool for learning how to best communicate with each other.)

“Ask for what you need” is how she starts each of our off sites. She means in the room and in this relationship we have with each other. It’s an important reminder to self-advocate and actively listen.

For me as a CEO, she offers an informed and unbiased sounding board. Erin brings years of experience counseling CEOs with far more road under their feet than I. She applies her learnings with those other professional athletes to help me shine.

She meets with my directs regularly, but she never discloses specifics. Instead, she highlights themes for me. Areas of opportunity, success, things to watch. She’s helped me fine-tune my intuition. And, when necessary, she can tell the empress when she has no clothes.

I reached out to her as I was writing this column to ask for a little insight I could share straight from the source. These are some nuggets she offered that apply broadly:

• “An exceptional executive coach serves as a confidential sounding board. They provide in the moment support and guidance for executives as they navigate the complexity of senior leadership.”
• “Trust and candor are the foundation” of the coach/client relationship. This is essential because “creating clarity in decision making and holding leaders accountable is a critical focus.”
• A great coach places emphasis on “executive team development, succession planning and talent retention.” (Remember, it’s not all about you. Great coaching should lift all boats.)
• On the hunt for a coach? Erin recommends interviewing “multiple coaches with a diverse portfolio of clients at the senior level.” Ideally, their client relationships should average out to three years or more.

Long story short: Feedback is harder and harder to get as you move up that ladder. Your coach will help you keep it real as you navigate the hard stuff and remind you to celebrate the wins.

But you don’t need to be a CEO or an executive to have a coach. Why not find one earlier in your career, build healthy habits, curiosity and a love of self-development from the start? Think of the GOATs in athletics. Did they wait until the Olympics or Super Bowl or World Cup to get a coach? Of course not. Neither should you.