Do You Need A Coach?
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Here is part of an email question I received last week:
“I like your positive, upbeat style, and have [a question] for you: Shouldn’t a productive agent be self-motivated enough not to need coaching?”
Clint L, Los Angeles, CA
Frankly, Clint, a self-motivated agent is the only type of agent that is ready for coaching. Someone who is not self-motivated, is not ready for the entrepreneurial nature of being an independent contractor (i.e. your own boss).
However, this reflects the dominant thinking in the real estate industry…and that is that the primary purpose of having a coach is to have someone hold you accountable. WRONG!!!
Accountability is absolutely the lowest level of coaching anywhere. Unfortunately it is the most common type of coaching in real estate, and it’s the way most real estate coaching programs are set up. Why? Because it doesn’t take a lot of skill to hold someone accountable…so anyone can be a coach. You can train a 12-year-old to hold someone accountable.
If you need accountability…DO NOT HIRE A COACH! You will waste your money and the coach’s time.
So why would you need a coach? A coach’s greatest value should be to improve performance and results.
Look at sports and you’ll notice 3 things:
#1) Great players ALWAYS have coaches. They start coaching early, and they never stop having coaches. Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback ever, still flies regularly all the way from Boston, MA to OC to work with his throwing coach, Tom House. He’s won 5 Super Bowl titles! He’s the best ever! And he still has multiple coaches and trains with them relentlessly.
#2) Great coaches create champions. Great coaches are not considered great because of their fancy training methods or tactics, or for their pedigree, or anything other than this: RESULTS. Do they help their players WIN? Great coaches help create success.
#3) The Best players have the best coaches. Micheal Jordan never won a championship without Phil Jackson as his coach. Kobe Bryant…same thing. In professional team sports, dynasties are not created by great athletes, but by great coaches. When great athletes leave a championship team, the team rebuilds and keeps winning. When great coaches leave…unless they are replaced by another great coach, the team becomes just one of the pack.
Coaching is for people (whether athletes or agents) who are interested in GREATNESS. I love 3 books that study greatness (i.e. the greatest performers in the world): The Little Book of Talent by Daniel Coyle, The Goldmine Effect, by Rasmus Anderson, and Peak by Anders Ericsson. They study all fields from sports, music, performing arts, chess, business and even medicine. Inherent through all is the value of the best coaches and commitment to ongoing training.
At what level to do the best in the world stop having a coach? When you decide you’re done winning and getting better. Until then, have a coach.