Start a winning streak: Are you being Coach? By Pablo J. Perez,

“Everybody starts out at 0-0 at the beginning of the game. Everybody is even,” proclaimed one coach whose team was in a losing streak. Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, made a similar point, saying that, mathematically, each game is a new start.

Even though both statements sound logical, both are wrong. Each game does not reset the organizational score to zero, any more than each quarter is a fresh beginning for a business or than each day is a new life for a person. Reset an old car’s odometer to zero, and it is still an old car.

We carry our baggage from the past, but the great news is that attitudes and behaviors can be improved, substituted or changed; giving us the chance of starting a brand new winning streak that will make us feel we are attaining our dreams and, as a consequence, becoming successful.

How can I stop a losing streak? How can I start a winning one? Close your eyes and envision your future. Are you happy? Are you rich? You can see yourself many years from now, surrounded by symbols of success, but what you will not imagine is the path to get there. It does not matter how hard you try; knowing what road to take is not an easy task. As people aspire to better lives, they are more likely to seek outside help to get them there: a professional coach.

People seek out coaches for three common reasons: take their performance to the next level, navigating some transition in their lives or careers, or having the need to change a behavior that is holding them back from their goals.
The dictionary defines “Coaching” as "private instruction." Yes, being a coach is much like being a private instructor, but it really is so much more. I believe coaching is also a talent and a gift. Good coaches have a knack for helping people and encouraging people to dig deep and realize more of their full potential than even they, themselves, thought possible.
FACTS ABOUT COACHING:
* Professional coaching is more popular than ever. The International Coach Federation boasts about 8,000 members, up from approximately 1,500 in 1998.
* In 2004, 56% of polled companies said that executive coaching would be a major learning method they would emphasize. Then in a 2006 follow-up survey, 51% said the use of coaching had actually increased.
* In the study, High-Impact Executive Coaching, 43% of CEOs and 71% of the senior executive team had worked with a coach.
* 63% of organizations say they plan to increase their use of coaching over the next five years.
* 92% of leaders being coached say they plan to use a coach again.
As an Executive Coach, I help individuals and organizations develop better attitudes more rapidly and produce more satisfying results. I work with my clients in all areas, including business, career, finances, time management, productivity, employee motivation and relationships. As a result of coaching, clients set better goals, take more action, make better decisions, and more fully use their natural strengths.

If you wish to explore deeper into the subjects contained in this article, please call Activate Group at (305)722-7215 or send an e-mail to pjperez@activategroupinc.com.

Some of the concepts and facts discussed in this paper were taken from “Coaching: The Fad that Won’t Go Away” by Jim Bolt.