Mentoring and coaching are two different avenues to the same end: growth and personal development. Both types of relationships are needed so we can fully develop. Often we look for mentors, people who have been where we want to be and we learn how to get there from them. We also need coaches in our life to help us get where we want to be.
Coaches are not necessarily experts in the realm that we are seeking to grow.
Tiger Woods is arguable the best golfer of all time. And he usually has had a coach.
Tiger turned pro on August 29, 1996 with the statement: “Hello World!” In the first sixteen months of his professional career, Tiger played 28 tournaments. He had 14 Top 10 finishes and six wins. The average PGA tour player doesn’t win that many tournaments in his career.
At the end of the 1997 season, Tiger told his coach that he wanted to his swing. He knew that to improve, he would have to make some fundamental changes to his swing. For a professional golfer to change his swing, is a pretty big deal. For me, no problem, I don’t have two that are the same!
So from January 1998 through May 1999, a seventeen month period. Tiger played 31 tournaments, had 18 Top 10 finishes and only two wins. Then his new swing found it’s grove. From June 1999 through May 2001, he played 37 tournaments, had 31 Top 10 finishes and 19 wins! Including a record 6 consecutive wins and four Major championships! Domination is only one word to describe what was happening on the PGA Tour and it continued through the 2002 season.
But then he made a decision that those of us in leadership can make. Tiger decided he didn’t need a coach and he went coach-less for the 2003 and 2004 seasons. He didn’t win a single tournament in those two years. For the first time 264 weeks, he lost the World Ranking of #1.
In 2005, Tiger hired a coach. Within weeks, he began winning again.
In the realm of leadership, here are a few lessons we can learn:
1. We must keep growing to reach the next level.
Tiger wasn’t satisfied with his swing at the beginning of his career. He realized that his swing had some limitations and while it had got him to a certain point, it was going to limit his potential. He took the drastic step of rebuilding his swing from the foundation up. His coach played an integral part in helping him work through the process of rebuilding.
2. We must consciously monitor our growth.
Tracking our progress is critical, keeping track of the right metrics is imperative. Everyone needs a set of objective eyes to help us monitor our growth. When he took the step of firing his coach, Tiger took away an important means of monitoring his growth.
3. Others will see the our growth after we do.
Tiger wasn’t concerned with winning so much as he was concerned with the ‘health’ of his swing. He realized that a ‘healthy’ swing would result in wins. The media was concerned with wins and Top 10 placements, Tiger was concerned with where is hands were at the top of his back swing.
When we have a coach in our life, we can get feedback and guidance. None of the coaches that Tiger has employed have been better golfers than Tiger. All of the coaches that Tiger employed had a better view of his swing than Tiger did himself.
Whatever your level of leadership, you need someone who can speak into your life to help you get better then you currently are.
