What is Co-Active Coaching?
When I tell people I am a co-active coach, a lot of people wonder what that is? It's not really that different from being an athletic coach. If you think about professional athletes, none of them would be able to get to that high level of performance without a coach. Just like a sports coach, a co-active coach focuses on the skills and attributes of the person they are coaching. They see them fully. They see their potential. Coaches learn what their client wants to achieve and they use coaching skills and techniques to help their client get the results that they want.
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In a job interview I had for a position as a Sales Trainer, my potential boss asked me, "What would you say to a top Sales Representative who has been working in their industry for years? What could you say that they would not already know? How could you add value?" That was a tough question to answer, but I was prepared. I told him that I would say to the Sales Rep, "Even though you are one of the best Sales Representatives in your field, there are always new ways to grow and improve. Look at Tiger Woods," (at the time he was the top golfer in the world), "Tiger is arguably the best at what he does. And yet, he has a coach. He is always looking for a way to improve on his already great game. The same is true for the top Sales Reps. There are always new ways of improving and innovating what you do. I can help expand on what you already do well and help you generate new ideas for changing industries and markets." I think that is what got me the job. My boss loved that answer and often repeated my words back to me, "even Tiger Woods has a coach."
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Many top performers and highly successful people have a coach. Highly successful people are successful because they are always growing and developing. They live their life by design, not be default. They challenge themselves to be their best. Coaching is designed to help you be your best, at whatever stage of life you are in. We are always redefining ourselves. Coaching is a great way be clear about what it is you truly want at any time in your life and then creating an action plan to get those results.
What Some High Achievers Think About Coaching
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Oprah Winfrey - Media Executive, Talk Show Host, Television Producer, Actress, and Philanthropist
Oprah has attributed some of her success to her life coach, Martha Beck. She has been a major advocate for life coaching as a result. Over the last 25 years, she's presented a multitude of life coaches to her fans and highly suggests her viewers use a life coach to succeed.
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W. Brett Wilson -Canadian Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, TV Star on Dragon's Den and Risky Business
I use a personal coach, a life coach very effectively and very regularly. My coach challenges me to think about my thought processes, about where I am, where I want to be, passions, setting goals, priorities. He’s the one guy who can call me on my activities. He’ll ask ‘What have you done to accomplish your goals'? It is an integral part of my decision-making process, both in my personal life and in my business life. I would argue that for most business people there is a symbiotic relationship between how they approach business and how they approach their personal life.
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Eric Schmidt - Chairman of Alphabet (formerly CEO of Google),
Eric was a longtime executive that was already running a successful global business that was growing like a weed. He was already successful, so he didn’t feel he needed a coach. So he resisted. Eventually he was persuaded to give it a shot. After experiencing being coached for some time, he said in an interview with Fortune Magazine, “everyone needs a coach.”
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