In search of the right coach

By | Sabih Kidwai | Director Learning Solutions, Talent Management & OD at Schneider Electric Greater India

I started to learn playing tennis very late, yes I did try and learn whatever I could 😊 !

The point is that the boy coaching me was less than half my age. He would explain me about footwork, balancing weight, swing and eye on the ball – all at the same time. In spite of my best efforts I would miss on one or the other aspects and thus either hit in the net or out of the park. Some times he would also lose patience and be tough with me. I consider myself aware and open but honestly it was difficult to take it from a young boy around the age of my son ! My ego would get hurt and I would keep thinking of it for a while. 

On deeper reflection I realized that he was doing what was right to train and coach some one for the game, that he new much better ! I do the same all the time with others who I coach and mentor on the professional side. Also the fact that while I had some professional mentors and senior people in my life who were very capable and well wishing, none of them will be able to coach me on tennis. My father for example, a well read wise man with all his good intentions would not have been able to me advise me on how to keep the ball in the court or for that matter my boss then, a very dynamic business leader also could not have trained me for the best swing. Only some one from this field could have. So I should accept this young boy as the expert & treat him as well as his instructions with respect. 

It is important to be able to find the right people (or source) for expert advise and then respectfully abide. Many a times we confuse age, affection, position or love with expertise. In fact in our society it is common to get advice on everything from almost every one you know ! To top it all the whatsapp brigade keeps circulating messages advising on anything that you may need or not. The ability to filter through the information and resources over load to find the right person (or source) of knowledge is increasingly becoming critical. By the way these will be different people for different games most of the time.

And then having the wisdom and patience to listen respectfully will continue to be the differentiator for those who will benefit and those who will not. 

Republished with permission and originally published at Sabih Kidwai’s LinkedIn