Mentor Coach: Bongie Ndimande
8th Mar 2023
Module 3 is about the principles of a great coach.
Coach Bongie shared several attributes of a great coach from “The Pyramid of Success” by John Wooden.
To me, they look more like attributes of a successful person than a coach. I can have all the attributes mentioned in the list. But as long as I’m not a good listener, I don’t think I can ever be a great coach. (I can disagree with the mentor coach, can’t I? ?)
Other than John Wooden’s pyramid of success, she shared Coach Mel’s 7 Principles of a Great Coach, namely:
- Believes in Human Potential
- Builds Self-Esteem
- Validates Understanding
- Challenges Reality
- Expands Options
- Inspires Action
- BE the Coach
Coach Mel’s principles are more apt for a coach, methinks.
The two principles that spoke to me most were:
Believes in Human Potential
and
Builds Self-Esteem
I believe a person seeking a coach has some mindset challenges instead of skillset challenges. A mentor or a trainer would be more appropriate for someone with the latter challenges.
The reason why the above two principles spoke to me is: When a coach believes in his coachee’s potential and helps build the coachee’s self-esteem – both of which are mindset-related – he can be a catalyst for the coachee’s breakaway from self-limiting beliefs.
I leave you guys with a quote from John Whitmore:
Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their growth.
PS: John Wooden, John Maxwell, John Whitmore. How come all great coaches are called John? Hmm, should I change my name to John, too? Like TheBarkingJohn? ?
