“The difference between a successful
person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but
rather a lack of will.” – Vince Lombardi
As a life
coach you will encounter many different and sometimes strange developments in
the lives of those who come to you for help.
There are those who need you to be a sounding board for their ideas and
dreams. There are those who need you to
be their guide through the forest of life when they are not sure of the path to
take. There are still others who need
you to be their starter, giving them a swift kick in the butt to get them
going.
The first two groups are
reasonable and really what a coach is there to do. Coaches listen to the dreams and ideas of
their clients and help them sort through the details so they can start the
process of really achieving their goals.
Coaches are also there to help give the direction needed when your
clients cannot see the forest for the trees.
They have come to the fork in the road and need someone to help them
decide which path is the best to take.
Then you have the third group,
those who are looking for someone to get them going. Yes as a coach we try to motivate and inspire
our clients, but that is reserved for those who really do want to achieve a
goal in life. The reality is, you will at
times come across the man or woman who talks about doing something but never
really gets at it. They want a coach
more than they want to succeed. They may
know what success is and are able to articulate it to you, however, the will to
achieve that success is missing.
When I talk of will, I am not referring
to the idea of "will power"
or doing what is necessary to succeed.
The will I refer to is that of
desire. Without desire, that burning
passion to achieve one's goals, there will be no movement and therefore no
success. For the coach this can be a
very frustrating experience.
There are two common traits I
have found in those who lack the will to achieve. One is that they expect you to coach them for
nothing. They can come up with a hundred
reasons why they could not "afford" to be coached but how worthy they
are for you to do it anyway. The second
is, when they fail to move forward, it will be your fault. They will have a dozen excuses for not doing
their part and "if you were a better coach" they would have moved
forward.
This may seem hard, but I value
the time coaches invest in the people they serve. Those who God has called into the coaching
profession are people of compassion and mercy.
They believe the best in others and desire to help all who want to
achieve in life. It is vital that you
understand that there are those who will take advantage of you and suck the
life from you like a vampire on an eating binge.
Be aware of the one ever
important quality in the people you coach, that of desire. Ask yourself, "Do they really desire to
achieve a dream or are they just taking up my time?" The time you waste on those who have no will
in the first place is time, energy and investment you could be giving to
someone who really needs you. And believe
me, there are many out there who really need you.
John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker,
and Life Coach. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books,
training and book him to speak to your church, business or group, visit our
website at http://www.growthcenter.net or www.johnpatrickhickey.com.
© 2014 John
Patrick Hickey
Very well stated, John! Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
ReplyDeleteThis struck a real chord with me - in my years as a physiotherapist, the single biggest frustration was trying to work with patients who would not taking responsibility for their part in their own recovery, but expected you, their therapist, to (magically!) make them better, and blamed you when they did not recover as they thought they should. Changing that mentality is very hard, and something that eventually you have to step away from.
ReplyDelete