Coaching from the Heart

People are my heart and helping lead them to a healthier lifestyle as a personal trainer is my passion. A discussion that I had recently about training/coaching personality styles with someone I highly respect in the industry prompted this blog. We all have our own style and our own approaches to coaching/training. I often contemplate how to be more effective as a trainer/coach...great leaders inspire, motivate and empower others. How do we motivate others most effectively? I feel that love is the greatest motivator. I believe using love and compassion will always have the greatest impact and results with those we coach. Leading others with love, empathy and compassion breaks down barriers and walls while engendering trust and respect and I've seen this firsthand in training people who began with their defensive walls up but eventually allowed them to come down. I didn't have to beat the walls down, I simply coached from the heart and the walls eventually crumbled naturally. In contrast, coaching people with a primarily tough, brash approach may be effective for some people, but more often than not, it invokes defensiveness and may break a person's spirit only leading to more walls or even lead to the person shutting down and giving up. I believe in the power of invoking change by making positive connections with those we lead. Coaching with compassion involves making a positive connection with those we coach and focuses on inspiring others to achieve their best rather than just "instructing" them to do so. Coaching strictly from a place of dogmatic instruction or for compliance can lead to negative emotions whereas coaching with empathic concern and compassion invokes positive emotions. A trainer/coach’s message shouldn't be degrading or demoralizing but rather confidence boosting and filled with encouraging words. This doesn't mean that we can't have hard conversations with those we coach or that we must withhold from calling people to take ownership, but the key is doing so with respectful delivery in a way that is helpful and inspires them to want to do better. Capture the heart and performance will follow. When we lead from the heart, we are most effective as leaders.