Do I Need Credibility To Be A Coach?
Do I Need Credibility To Be A Coach?
I once heard Tony Robbins recount how he was challenged on a radio phone-in by a very experienced psychotherapist on the line.
Tony, who was barely out of adolescence at the time had challenged, live on air, any therapist listening to present their most difficult case which he promised to fix in minutes.
The therapist was, perhaps understandably, riled. Confronting Robbins, he bellowed, “You don’t even have a decent education! You don’t know what you’re talking about!” (Or words to that effect.
Tony responded, “But I do, sir. I have a degree.”
Tony had stated only moments before on the same show that he had never been to university. So the therapist challenged with, “You said you didn’t. Who gave it to you? What’s it in?”
Sounding super-calm, which perhaps he wasn’t feeling, Tony’s reply was simply, “I gave it to myself. And it’s in “RESULTS!” I get results!”
What happened next is legendary and helped to launch Tony’s career, but we’re not actually here to discuss Tony Robbins’ career. We’re here to discuss yours.
Of all the objections raised by people I help to become coaches, one of the most common is, “But I don’t know anything.”
I’d like, if I may, to knock holes in that argument the size of army tanks, because it’s quite conceivable that it’s holding you back from an amazing, wonderful, rewarding and lucrative career. A career you can use to replace your current job if you wish – a feat that can these days be achieved in mere weeks – or that you can simply do in your spare time.
Nothing is more rewarding, in my view, than making a positive, lasting change to people’s lives. Well, except possibly making a lasting, positive change in people’s lives and being well paid for it.
So, let’s take a moment to seriously reflect on the “I know nothing” argument.
Of course you don’t mean that. Everybody knows something by the age of about three. What you mean is that you believe that you don’t know anything more than anybody else.
Take a moment, would you, to ponder that?
Are you seriously willing to entertain the idea that every single topic you have even a modicum of expertise in is so well known that everyone else who could possibly matter knows all that you do, and even more?
But there’s another angle to this self defeating illogic that you probably haven’t even considered.
Let’s go back to Tony Robbins’ brilliantly constructed argument. The therapist challenged him about his education, but Tony realised that facts and knowledge were not what really mattered.
That therapist’s clients most assuredly did not pay him for his time because of the certificates he was able to hang on his wall. Nobody would have cared if he’d graduated from Harvard or crawled out of the gutter. In fact, had the latter been his story, some would even have held him aloft as a shining example of what can be achieved!
When you take your car to a mechanic you don’t ever ask where he trained or how well she understands the principles of the combustion engine, do you? You don’t give a fig. You only want your car back in perfect working order as soon as possible, and probably for the smallest bill you can both agree on.
In other words, you only care about the result.
Years ago, I went to a mortgage broker because I wanted to get out of rented accommodation. Once I was settled in his chair with the obligatory coffee he asked me how he could help.
I told him I wanted a mortgage.
Now, this fellow had a wry sense of humour, so teasingly he replied,
“No you don’t. Nobody wants a mortgage. What you want is a home. Unfortunately, a mortgage is the necessary evil most of us have to have in order to get one!”
He was, of course, a hundred percent right.
We pay for results.
The means to get there may well be an inconvenience or even, as my broker friend pointed out, a necessary evil, but we’re willing to put up with those because our eyes are on the prize.
When someone hires me for coaching they don’t pay my fee because they like the colour of my eyes. (At least, I’m pretty sure they don’t do that!)
They pay me because I’ve figured out how to help people get the results they want – no matter what the issue.
That’s how Tony knew he could fix anyone’s “most challenging case.” Because when people want change, what they really want, at the bottom of it all, is the same thing.
They want to feel happier than they do now.
As it turns out, the keys to bringing about change are available to all of us – and they’re easy to learn and apply.
And really, that’s all you need … plus a little passion for your topic of course. Passion – not knowledge! Coaches don’t have to be teachers any more than your car mechanic has to be able to drive.
There’s a man in the town where I live who makes the most wonderful guitars. They are seriously a joy to own and play. But the man himself can’t play a note.
Your barber may be as bald as a coot, but that doesn’t mean he can’t cut hair brilliantly.
Have I turned a light on?
Do you now have a deep, burning curiosity to learn more about those keys to bringing about change? Would you like to know a bit more about what Tony Robbins understood on that radio phone-in?
I recorded a masterclass on that which you’re very welcome to view.
Simply register here: http://www.webinarfusionpro.com/register/how-to-make-7-figures-a-year-changing-lives-eng-35187
Oh … and take notes.
