Are You Coachable?

Are you coachable? This is a great question! To be successful in any business, you have to be coachable. Let's face it when we start a business we do not know all of the answers and we need to look to our mentor or whoever for advice.

Let us look at he definition of coachable which is from the Webster Dictionary:
The state or condition of being coachable or coachable - Able to be coached effectively.

The following article is from Management Craft, which can help put you on the right track of being coachable.

Are you Being Coachable?

Want to have a breakthrough? Breakthroughs happen when we let them - which for most of us, rarely occurs. Our habits, hang-ups, assumptions, and lack of self-confidence get in the way. I call this collection of internal mental responses coachability.
Coachability is the extent that we hear and utilize outside input and influences. To produce breakthroughs, we need to be coachable.

Here's what it looks like when we are coachable:
We do not get defensive when people offer alternatives or disagree.
We invite and appreciate feedback.
We ask peers, team members, managers and others to offer coaching - yes, we think being coached is a GOOD thing!
We think about, process, consider, and occasionally use ideas we get from others.
We stay on a learning curve - keep challenging ourselves.
We know and can openly discuss our strengths and weaknesses.
We handle failures well (hostestly, constructively, quickly getting into action to solve).

And when we are being uncoachable:
We don't listen and an invisible barrier goes up when others offer ideas.
We get defensive - we need to be right!
We do all our own thinking - only the weak ask for input!
We are not interested in being coached.
We are neither aware of nor willing to talk about our weaknesses.
We intrpret suggestions as criticism - we take everything personally.
We dismiss the ideas and assistance of others.
We can improve our coachability by:
Adopting a belief that to achieve our goals, we need to be highly coachable. When we are coachable, success comes easily and quickly.
Change how we define “looking good” or “doing a good job.”
Reverse our belief that we need to be right to be a success. We will create more success if we focus on getting results and utilizing many ideas and perspectives.
Recognize that there are times when we are more coachable than others. For me, 3pm to 5pm is the time I find toughest to concentrate unless I consume vast quantities of chocolate. This would be a bad time to seek input or coaching (unless the aforementioned chocolate had hit my bloodstream, then it would be fine).
Ask for coaching. Ask for ideas. Ask for input. Get into dialogue about the things that matter to you.

A few things to consider about coachability:
We are all coachable some of the time and uncoachable some of the time.
Some of us are uncoachable most of the time - yikes! (and a joy to work with, I am sure).
You can go from being uncoachable to being coachable in an instant. Breakthroughs can occur in a moment.

How coachable are you - I mean right now? Be honest with yourself because if you want to succeed being coachable is very important.

To your success,

Lori

Lori McDowell
Internet Ceo Moms
Helping Moms Work From Home since 1999!