This post is an extract from a superb article in the New Yorker by Atul Gawande. Atul is a surgeon at the top of his profession. He is an accomplished physician and also an excellent writer. His recent article “Personal Best” discussed the need for everyone at every stage of their lives to consider the significant benefits coaching can provide and the importance of it being the right type of coaching and the right coach.

The whole article is a great 15 minute read and a passage that summed a lot up for me is below. You can read Atul’s full article in the New Yorker here.

Atul describes the process of undergoing being observed by his coach (Osteen) and the realisations he gained from it…

“Osteen watched, silent and blank-faced the entire time, taking notes. My cheeks burned; I was mortified. I wished I’d never asked him along. I tried to be rational about the situation—the patient did fine. But I had let Osteen see my judgment fail; I’d let him see that I may not be who I want to be.

This is why it will never be easy to submit to coaching, especially for those who are well along in their career. I’m ostensibly an expert. I’d finished long ago with the days of being tested and observed. I am supposed to be past needing such things. Why should I expose myself to scrutiny and fault-finding?

I have spoken to other surgeons about the idea. “Oh, I can think of a few people who could use some coaching” has been a common reaction. Not many say, “Man, could I use a coach!” Once, I wouldn’t have, either.

Osteen and I sat together after the operation and broke the case down, weighing the decisions I’d made at various points. He focussed on what I thought went well and what I thought didn’t. He wasn’t sure what I ought to have done differently, he said. But he asked me to think harder about the anatomy of the attachments holding the tumor in……

…..“Most surgery is done in your head,” Osteen likes to say. Your performance is not determined by where you stand or where your elbow goes. It’s determined by where you decide to stand, where you decide to put your elbow. I knew that he could drive me to make smarter decisions, but that afternoon I recognized the price: exposure.

For society, too, there are uncomfortable difficulties: we may not be ready to accept—or pay for—a cadre of people who identify the flaws in the professionals upon whom we rely, and yet hold in confidence what they see. Coaching done well may be the most effective intervention designed for human performance. Yet the allegiance of coaches is to the people they work with; their success depends on it. And the existence of a coach requires an acknowledgment that even expert practitioners have significant room for improvement. Are we ready to confront this fact when we’re in their care?”

Read more in the New Yorker here.

A good coach realises that it is a true partnership and that the coach’s job is to provide a holistic framework for performance improvement. This requires a broad skill set that includes, leadership, team work, empathy, experience and courage. It is important to take your time to find the coach that is right for you.

Comments and discussions as always are welcomed.

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