Be Coachable

Those of you who think you know everything annoy those of us who actually do!

If you know me or have followed this blog, you know that I love a good quote. I enjoy sharing the wisdom and wit of others, especially those that have long since passed from this world. It is a way to learn a little about the personality, as well as the genius, of thinkers I will never have an opportunity to meet in this world.

The opening quote to today's post was a popular bumper sticker/sign/poster/office joke from about 20 to 25 years ago. Someday, I will do a post of many of my favorite over-the-top "I am the Greatest" sayings and phrases that I have picked up and used over the years. They are all meant in fun and have been used to get a laugh poke fun, especially within my family. This one makes a good point for a Life Lesson that I had to learn and others have shared with me about how they had to learn it as part of their growing process also.

I am a fairly intelligent person and learning has come easily to me throughout most of my life. I was once on the arrogant side when it came to learning in that I thought if I could receive, process, and regurgitate information easily, everyone else should be able to do so also.

Mathematics have always been something of a second nature to me. I can still often do computations in my head without realizing that I have done them. One of the struggles I had in school when I was learning math was that I was expected to "show my work." My thinking was, "why do I have to do this if I can just look at a problem and write down the answer?" As I advanced into high school algebra and geometry, I learned to reverse engineer problems to show my work. I knew what the answer was but I had to work backwards from the answer to get back to the initial problem. I irritated friends because they would ask how I got an answer and my reply was, "because that is what you do to get the right answer."

It wasn't that I was trying to be rude or unhelpful, but usually I did NOT know how or why, just that is what was needed to get the answer. To me simple, but to others, not so much.

So what does all of this have to do with being coachable?

Quite a bit, actually.

I bombed out at my first attempt at college, very much because I was not coachable. Learning had always come so easily that I had terrible study habits and NO ONE was going to tell me what I needed to do or how I needed to study once I got to college. This was not something that I wanted to hear. I thought I could continue to do the same things that I always done when it came to studying and still get by. And for a couple of classes, it worked. For others, it (and I) failed miserably.

Not being coachable worked against me in my professional career also. I have always considered myself a salesman to some degree or another. I also have an entrepreneurial itch. It hit me that Network Marketing would be a perfect situation for me. The only problem was that I thought I was so smart, I didn't needed to be trained or taught anyone else's system because I am so smart I can come up with a better idea than the person that had already created a wonderful business for them self.* Unfortunately for me, many lost sales and failed business attempts later, I finally learned that I am often not as smart as I believed I was.

On my last post ("Zest"), I talked about following our dreams. However, no one should open a business without some sort of business training. I don't need to open an auto repair shop without knowing anything about auto mechanics, or finances, or how to hire quality help. I would need to learn many things to be able to open an auto shop if that was my dream. That is not to say I can't pursue that dream but I would need to learn much. If I decided that I know how to repair a car better than a master mechanic, my business would almost certainly fail.

My encouragement to you is this: have an open mind. Listen to others, especially those that are "experts" or successful in the area you have an interest. Find a mentor. Take their knowledge to heart. Learn. And grow. Then finally, see where it takes you.

Final note: I also learned how to be a college student. When I went back to school, my GPA was 3.96. The only reason I didn't get 4.0 was because an A- was given a slightly lower numeric value than a plain ol' A. (Sad face on Eddy.) I had 3 classes where I earned an A-. I didn't get extra value for an A+ and I had 4 of those. (Sadder face.) I did make all A's while working a 40+ hour a week job and 16 hours of class time a week. Sometimes it pays to be coachable.

Smile!!

© 2009 Eddy Seegers

*One of the reasons that I was un-coachable as a Network Marketer was that I just felt that there was a better way to do it than what I was being taught. My mistake was that I should have allowed myself to be coached, learned to do it the way that many others had done it to be successful and then searched for the better way I felt must be out there somewhere.

Fortunately, when I realized that I needed to let someone coach me, I found the the new system to go with the company that makes products that have meant a lot to me. I am developing my new web page to tell everyone about that system. (The nice thing is that you will never have to cold call, bug friends, or family if you don't want to.) I will let you know when my web page is up. In the mean time, if you want to learn about the products that have had such a profound affect on my life, Click_Here_Now!