CHAPTER 1

THE COACHING SPIRIT

PRINCIPLE 1Believe in Human Potential for Greatness

Man was designed for accomplishment, engineeredfor success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.—Zig Ziglar

At the heart of a great coach is a firm belief that each person is a uniquelyvaluable individual with distinct gifts and potential for greatness. A coachknows how to appreciate what is special in others and believes that every personis created to be magnificent in their own way.

Leadership guru John C. Maxwell asserts that talent is never enough. "Belieflifts your talent. Your talent will not be lifted to the highest level unlessyou also have belief." There are four main ways in which believing in humanpotential for greatness can be a talent lifter.

• Lift your talent to coach by believing in people's potential for greatness.

• Lift the talent of the people you coach by believing in their potential forgreatness.

• Lift your talent by believing in your own potential as a great coach.

• Lift the talent of the people you coach when they believe in your potential asa great coach.

As a coach, you gain increased motivation when you are able to see the championin each person you coach. When you have strong faith and belief in the potentialof the people you coach, it lifts their talent and inspires them to accomplishmore. When you believe in your own potential as a great coach, you lift your owntalent and motivation to coach. When the people whom you coach believe in yourpotential, it will lift their talent and motivation to be coached.

The net positive effect in believing in one's human potential for greatness ismultiplied when it permeates the relationship between the coach and client.Coaching is an unconditionally supportive relationship, and as you coach youwant to offer full acceptance and an unbiased belief in the person you arecoaching regardless of his or her present performance.

It has been said that belief is more than a thought that a person possesses; itis a thought that possesses the person. A belief in the unlimited humanpotential for greatness is a habit of the mind in which confidence becomes avirtue to be embraced. In order to be a highly effective coach, you need to makebelieving in people, yourself, and your mission one of your top priorities. Ifyou want good results, you have to perform good actions. If you want to performgood actions, you must have good expectations. To have good expectations youmust first believe your goals are achievable.

The globally acclaimed author of Fully Human, Fully Alive: A New Life through aNew Vision, John Powell, estimates that an average person taps only 10 percentof his potential, sees only 10 percent of the beauty that is all around him,hears only 10 percent of its music and poetry, smells only 10 percent of itsfragrance, and tastes only 10 percent of the deliciousness of being alive. Sincemost people neither see nor seize the untapped opportunity that constantlysurrounds them, there is a vast potential waiting to be unleashed.

You know that people are always capable of much better results than those theyare currently getting. This might include better physical fitness, higher jobperformance, more loving relationships, and so on. As a coach, you willencounter situations where people do not succeed or don't measure up toexpectations in the face of huge commitments. During such times, your belief intheir potential for greatness is even more important; that belief needs toremain steadfast.

Even at a time when someone is going through great difficulties at work or athome, as a coach you must still be able to see the goodness in them and bring itto the surface. This is easier said than done, but believing in people no matterwhat must be a conscious choice, a decision you make, and a habit you inculcatewith constant practice even when it's challenging. If, as a coach, you covertlybelieve that your client is not able to succeed in achieving his or her goals,if you feel that she or he is not capable enough, this can undermine your entirecoaching process.

If you are coaching someone to become an effective presenter and have seen theperson performing poorly, you may have formed a belief that this person isunlikely to become an effective speaker. When this happens, your ability tocoach the person will be flawed. When you are pessimistic regarding the outcome,this will undermine your coaching conversations. Your negative expectationscould subconsciously affect their confidence and lessen the likelihood ofsuccess. This does not mean that if someone sets an unrealistic goal that youshould not explore ways to make changes to the goal or work on a different goal.But it does mean you should maintain a positive view of the outcome of yourcoaching.

Sun Tzu wrote in The Art of War that when troops prepare for battle, if theylose the fight within their own minds even before the battle begins, theirchances of winning are diminished by up to 50 percent. He emphasizes theprofound effect that belief has on the ability to win. The certain belief in thegreat potential that lies within all people, releases the power that drives asuccessful coaching practice.

CASE STUDY: DAVID'S STORY

David was a general manager of a multinational shipping company based in LongBeach, California, and formerly a captain in the armed forces. His father foughtin World War II and while raising his kids had followed a strict militaryregimen. David was well known in his company as a very tough, no-nonsense boss.His employees feared him since he was good at finding people's faults, though healso fixed them. His command-and-control style meant that employees were notexpected to act proactively and creatively in the face of escalatingenvironmental...