Running and the art of coachability
Written by Stuart Haden on March 3, 2015
Since I published my book in Nov 2013 I have been busy testing out the applications of coachability in different contexts. I was recently interviewed by George Anderson who is an inspirational running coach. Between us we recognised that if you want to improve your running, lose weight or achieve high performance etc then the chances are you will need to be coached along the way. Obviously this could take the form of one to one coaching, as well as supplemented learning – podcasts, books or online courses etc. Either way if you aren’t ready for coaching then you aren’t ready for high performance.
I came across George’s work about 6 months ago and he coached me out of my ‘running slumber.’ I had got lazy – years of ultra marathon training had left me coasting along, running what George calls ‘junk miles.’ I had been running, but my performance had been standing still. Pretty soon I re-discovered my running identity (moving in nature) and had totally revamped my runs to include speed work and threshold running. The lung busting sessions were back, and I challenged myself to consider nutrition seriously. Check out the 10 minute interview here…
The coach had well and truly appeared, but only because I was ready (unknowingly) for this. In conclusion if we are coachable and working towards high performance then we are beginning to see what is possible. We give ourselves permission to align our values to actions. We ask ourselves questions and seek out observations that shift our perception so that we can skilfully act on our evolving identity. Entering into dialogue with others so that we perform time and time again at the desired level. Now you can start to answer the most important question – are you coachable? And if you are – how coachable are you?