Are you coachable?

A ‘coach extraordinaire’ can move you along your growth path only if you wish to traverse that journey; in short only if you are coachable.

The dictionary meaning of coachable is "capable of being easily taught and trained to do something better". In a coaching parlance, ‘being coachable’ is all about the mindset you display towards coaching. Of course, your coach does contribute to your movement towards your intended goals, but you can propel yourself to meeting and excelling your goals by being coachable.

So, now you may ask…how would you know if you are coachable?

You are coachable if:

1.????You are open to feedback;?both seeking and receiving. You seek feedback with an intention to learn, grow, be more self-aware and improve. You will notice yourself asking questions like “What else can be done?”, “How can I improve this further?”, “Did it meet your expectations?”?etc. You also receive constructive feedback offered to you as an opportunity to learn. You listen and attend to the feedback without being defensive or egoistic and are able to work on it, if the feedback offered is relevant. You will notice yourself thanking the feedback giver and will take time later to reflect on the feedback.

2.????You are willing to take ownership, accountability and responsibility for your thoughts, behaviours, words, decisions and actions. This means that don’t make excuses, manage expectations, own their mistakes, and don’t let your inner thoughts and emotions derail you off course. You do not expect a coach to solve all your issues or provide ready-made solutions rather take control of your thoughts, behaviours, words, decisions and actions;?before, during, and after the coaching session.

3.????You are a curious learner; willing to learning something new at every possible opportunity. They are open to learning from books, from conversations, from experience, from observation, and even from seeking feedback. You very seldom observe yourself saying things like “I’ve done it for 20+ years” “I know it all” or “What can I learn from a kid?”.

4.????You focus on continually increasing your levels of self-awareness by being willing to introspect to build our conscious awareness about ourselves and our emotions, understand how we relate to others and their emotions, learn about our key motivations, habits, challenges, and weaknesses. In fact by, by seeking and receiving feedback, being accountable for your own thoughts, behaviours, words, decisions and actions and by being a curious learner, your will increase your awareness about yourself and minimize the black spots.

5.????You are willing to explore and try out new things, acknowledge new ideas and other’s perspectives. You will not observe yourself dismissing others perspectives or saying things like “I’ve always done it like this” or “I tried it and it didn’t work” . This requires giving up control and acknowledging “you don’t know yet” and welcome the adventure and discovering that accompanies your exploration.

6.????You are motivated by your commitments and do not allow yourself to be distracted. If and when you are distracted, you can gather yourself up quickly and get back on track. You will notice that you do not have to excuse yourself or apologise often for not keeping to your commitments.

7.????You are passionate about your vision, goals, growth and improvement and have a strong desire and will to meet your goals and put in effort that is required to meet your goals. In fact, a coachable person will be rather open to sharing the widely, seeking support and opportunities to learn. Calling out though that your goals are SMART goals.

8.????You are willing to embrace change and does not avoid change even if it is uncomfortable or inconvenient, and willingly do the work to adapt. You will notice yourself saying things like “Let’s try it” or “how can I help make this better?”.

9.????You are open to learning from your mistakes and don’t allow your mistakes to guide you on what you can and cannot do. Rather, a coachable person will see a failure as an opportunity to learn. As John C. Maxwell says, "The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure."

10.?You are proud of your own uniqueness and perspectives. Though you are open to listening to others perspective, you will still exercise agency of choice with responding to the perspectives, respectfully.

11.?You listen and you are open to sharing about yourself honestly and openly. You are not guarded about your experiences, not knowing, and perspectives.

12.?You show up on time and prepared for your coaching sessions. Being prepared would include having taken action on your commitments and are deliberate and focussed about your coaching.

Though not demonstrating a few of these behaviours does not make you not-coachable, possibly they are good topics to be discussed with your coach. However, if you were not able to respond with an affirmative to a majority of these there, then possible coaching is not the solution you are looking for. ?????????

#coaching #coachable