This week I had several coaching calls with the same person, and each time it centered around the other person’s desire to be an effective coach themselves.
The person I was talking with spends his time working with others, coaching them to perform at a higher level, yet at the same time he is in the mud. Are you sensing already a problem?
As I was talking with this person, he shared how the people he’s coaching are simply not making any progress toward achieving their goals. I’m thinking to myself, “Why would those he’s coaching see any improvement when he himself isn’t improving either?”
It’s a classic case of we become like those we associate with. You can’t fake being a coach! I was dumbfounded with what this guy is doing and more dumfounded by the fact others are even listening to him.
If you’re not motivated, what makes you think you can motivate others? If you’re not able to understand what needs to be done, what makes you think you can tell others? This is like the alcoholic telling others they shouldn’t drink. Talk about being a hypocrite. To me this is the ultimate.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying only superstars can be coaches. No, what I’m saying is you can’t expect others to achieve results you haven’t at least tried to achieve yourself. This is the rub I have with sales managers. Too many sales managers love to beat their sales team up over a lack of prospecting when they themselves are too gun shy to do it themselves.
We’re more hollow than we realize. People see through fake coaching. If you want to see the results you expect in people, you have to be the first to step up and expect the same from yourself. What is it you need to step up and start doing to allow you to be seen as an authentic coach?
Copyright 2017, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.
