Somewhere in the adoption of the term “coaching” from sports to business, something was lost in translation and the purpose became distorted. The idea that an individual ‘needs’ a coach somehow came to imply that there is a problem that needs to be fixed from outside.
Is that what you first think about when you consider coaching in the sports context? Probably not. Generally we think of coaches as the people that help assure that the maximum performance is extracted from an individual or group of already excellent performers. For sure coaches can help an individual out of a point of difficulty, add control to a backhand, break a hitting slump, etc., but this is a minor role compared to the coach helping the player Achieve More.
Sports coaches take strengths and show high performers how to use them more effectively. This is what business coaching should be (and is in many cases). Yet the stigma of ‘needing a coach’ is real, and somehow people in business feel that every individual or team should be able to figure out how to perform at their very best with the annual “performance and development review” as the main guidance touchpoint. Does this come from hubris on the part of the organization or is it something else in the culture of business? It is difficult to say but important to think about.
Coaches need to focus their message more on the benefits of maximizing performance and less on fixing ‘broken’ people. Businesses need to look at coaching as a tool to increase excellence rather than as a treatment for an illness. This is not to say that coaching doesn’t have an important role in addressing performance problems, but I believe that most organizations could benefit more by having coaches for their superstars than their third string.
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