This article from late last year has been bugging me for months. You know why? Because he’s right. And the reasons behind why “Leadership Training” doesn’t work extends to coaches. Coaches have to be developed, and we can’t train them. Training & development are NOT the same thing. Mike Myatt lists 20 reasons why development is the better option. You should read them.
Because of this article, we’ve made some decisions.
At CoachNet, we no longer train coaches. There, I said it out loud. This has been an internal conversation at CoachNet for about a year.
If you want to be a highly effective coach, you have to develop. And coach development is what CoachNet is committed to. In fact, we’re committed to YOUR coach development, and all that that means!
You can’t learn to coach in a training. What we have commonly called a training event might be a part of the process, but the reality is that every one of our systems is designed to develop you–your knowledge, skills and abilities. A training event might get you started, but it takes repetitions to get there. But like the old saying goes, “You can’t learn to swim in a classroom.” The same goes for coaching.
And as of today, we no longer train coaches. We’re out of the coach training business/ministry. We are now in the coach development industry/movement.
A friend of mine is a coach in the National Football League, and he’s spent the last few seasons with a team that isn’t exactly burning up the league. His team is talented, but young. They haven’t won a lot of games recently (and yes, the team’s practice facility is in the same suburb as the CoachNet offices). But my friend sees progress and growth, because the team is working hard in practice. One of his favorite lines is “young guys have to get the reps.” Repetition in practice makes the difference. It’s the thing that leads to growth. That’s development. We want to help you practice what you learn, so it makes a difference. Want to get started on your coach development here.
That’s really different than training. You know, the mountaintop experience that leaves you going “MAN, that was AWESOME!” It was so awesome in fact, that when you got home you put the binder on the shelf and never opened it again. Well, I hate to say it, but that’s training. We’re not doing that anymore.
Don’t get me wrong…we’re still going to have coach development events. You’ll still have the chance to get into the room with a top quality CoachNet coach, to learn, to see a model of excellent coaching, to ask questions and to apply what you’re learning. (You can pick a choice that fits for you here.) BUT, if you don’t take what you learn there home, practice with it, and use it to become a better coach, we’ve failed. Over the next few days, you’ll slowly start to see the word “training” disappear from the CoachNet site. (It’s already gone from our home page.)
So, what are your thoughts? How are you developing as a coach? Please put your thoughts in the comment area. I promise to respond to every comment.