I read somewhere, when Roger Federer was asked what makes him a great tennis player, he answered “My team.”
When we think of great leaders, we picture these larger-than-life people who have made an impact on the lives of several people with the dint of their characters and achievements. Whether our mind conjures up images of leaders who have led countries like Mahatma Gandhi or successful sports teams like Kapil Dev or businesses like Narayan Murthy, we imagine these leaders to have been born with certain innate abilities which they honed over a lifetime of struggle and perseverance. We see Leadership as an individual sport, a bit like Tennis. As I started my career, I thought the same.
And then when I read the biographies and the autobiographies of several stalwart leaders, I realized that these people would not have achieved greatness had it not been for a stellar team backing them up. Mahatma Gandhi had his wife Kasturba and several people who challenged and supported him through his darkest hours, Kapil had his manager, support staff and a few confidants while Narayan Murthy had his wife Sudha who acted as his North Star and a pillar of strength through his incredible journey. Leadership is, after all, a team sport.
This insight is in full display especially during times of crisis. When a leader is faced with a major challenge, even the best of us can flounder. Leaders are human beings and are beset with the same infirmities as the rest of us. They are assailed with self-doubt, fear of failure, creativity block like so many others. Some of them can overcome these on their own with strong cognitive and creative processes but, in all probability, every leader would have faced a situation in his or her life which required external help.
This is where a coach, as an integral part of the leader’s team, comes in. A coach is someone who supports, educates and motivates an individual to reach her potential without getting immersed in the content of the business situation. A coach is, essentially, a catalyst in a chemical reaction. Someone who can accelerate a reaction without actively participating in it. A coach is not a mentor. A mentor is necessarily a subject matter expert who can actively provide real solutions to vexing problems with his/her experience and knowledge of the business. A coach will work with the leader to identify patterns in behaviour, gaps in thinking process, different perspectives to the issue which could lead to creative problem solving and, in the end, help in meaning making. A coach helps the client to tap into her own vast subconscious accumulated knowledge and help her unearth a solution that would have proven elusive.
Crisis represents intransigent challenges which require resilience and resilience requires progress to sustain itself – not necessarily fast progress but progress, nevertheless. Resilience is built with a coaching process where the leader can explore different avenues to make progress and at the same time find a confidential vent to the stress being built up within one’s system. A coaching support system provides this emotional relief so necessary to sustain our resilience energy.
A coach-trainee relationship is built over a long period of time as it requires trust to be developed. So, the right time to develop this is in times of relative calm. So, dear readers, ask yourself do you have the right coach because (as American Basketball Coach said) “A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life.”
