The Essential Skill if You Want to be Your Best

Years ago, at the great Bolshoi Ballet, auditions for the troupe were conducted among 8-year-old girls. That’s because it took ten years to become great. How did the auditions work? The teachers weren’t looking for the best dancers. They were looking for the dancers who took coaching the best. The rest would come with time. — Seth Godin

To succeed in life, there is a skill that trumps talent — it’s the willingness to take instruction and follow through on what you’ve learned. It’s called “being coachable.” 

• 

You grow by being coachable when life is easy but especial when life gets hard. 

It’s not how smart you are or how fit you are or how tough you are. What matters is: Are you willing to listen to probing questions? Will you do the hard work of self-reflection? Will you be gut level honest with yourself and what needs to change? Will you agree to be accountable for the actions you need to take to get to your destination? 

You know you’re ready for coaching when you say: 

• ​“I don’t know what to do. Can you help me?.” 
  
• “I’m stuck. Can you help me get unstuck?” 
  
• “I’m not equipped for this challenge. Can you mentor me?” 
  
• “I don’t know what I don’t know. Can you help me discover where I’m in the dark?” 
  

Athletes Rise and Fall on Coachability 

My best skill was that I was coachable. I was a sponge and aggressive to learn. — Michael Jordan 

You must always be the apprentice. Even when you become the master. — Christopher Cumby 

To succeed…at anything, you have to prepare yourself. That means you have to be open, be coachable, and willing to learn. — Tammi Fugitt 

What about you? 

In what area do you need to come like one of those hand-picked 8-year-old girls? 

Not knowing what you don’t know but open to the process of developing and growing into the person you are capable of becoming?​