Wednesday

Is a Coach a Crutch?

Is a coach a crutch?

Every now and then, I have a client who questions if they are using their coach as a crutch. They are concerned that they have developed a habit of relying on their coach in order to feel good about themselves.

And that is exactly the opposite to what a coach actually is.

You see, a coach’s job is to propel you with velocity so that you operate outside of your comfort zone and rocket towards achieving your inspiring goals. A coach’s job is to unlock your passion, your brilliance and your clarity so that it’s available to you. A coaches job is to unleash the high performance you.

That is exactly the opposite of a crutch. A crutch is a support during a time of injury. It’s designed to be a temporary prop to allow you to function as normally as possible.

Of course, it’s easy to become accustomed to using a crutch. In that case, the crutch has lost it’s pragmatic function and has entered the area of habit.

Often time, people go to psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors or therapists to support them during a time of mental overwhelm or to help them change inappropriate or destructive behaviours.

The professional’s job there is to heal their clients to a state of efficacy.

…and sometimes their clients develop a dependency upon them.

A good professional will discourage such dependency's upon them, even though it's good for business.

This, I think is what my clients are talking about.

A coach is different.

A coach works with someone who is healthy, resourceful and who wants to create outstanding results, outcomes and rewards.

A coach encourages their clients to extend themselves so they are learning and achieving outside of their normal efforts and activities.

A coach listens to you in such a way, that you hear your own brilliant thinking, you become acutely aware of what you are passionate about and you see clearly what are the important next things for you to do to achieve your goals.

A coach encourages their clients to work through negative and non productive behaviours in the act of being in hot pursuit of their goals.

A coach is someone to avoid if you are trying to justify habits or emotional blackmail. They simply won’t tolerate anything less than your best efforts and your absolute integrity and clarity. They see you as a high performance human being who is busy pulling more and more out of themselves, their lives and their results.

A coach is a bad choice if you are looking for a crutch to lean on.

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1 comment:

Deb Robertson Writes said...

From the perspective of someone who uses crutches to get around... a crutch is to deal with PAIN, while a coach is to deal with GROWTH! Why in the world would you keep on using crutches if you don't need to??