THE COACHES’ CHALLENGE
Jorge Araújo
President of Team Work Consultores
Citation from the doctoral thesis of Jorge Araújo, MOTRICIDADE E CORPO EXPRESSIVO, páginas 38, 39, 40
But what (after all!) is the big challenge facing coaches, and behavioral coaches in particular? The idea has become widespread that the key is to be able to achieve the best possible results and meet all the objectives set for a given timeframe.
But is that really all there is to it?
We know that the figure of the coach can be important in itself. His reputation, his successes, the social, sporting or business affirmation he has already achieved, allow him, when speaking to teams, players or company staff, to have a repercussion that mobilizes their motivation. After all, this is nothing new: the figure of the other person we go to for advice (to confess, to “cure” us, etc.) offers clear examples of what has been said, as old as human culture itself.
And then there’s the word. And the meaning of what is conveyed, which should not only seek to influence and persuade, but to emotionally touch and transform. Basically, as we say in the context of training, mobilizing motivation and, above all, the ability to overcome[1] can be done in multiple ways and by various means. This, of course, is not easy to accept, as it means recognizing an uncomfortable and fundamental insecurity in the coach’s practice: something will always escape any behavioral training formula. There is no magic recipe that can summarize or control such an undefined and volatile phenomenon – a phenomenon as human as individual behavior in a professional context.
Generally speaking, we all like to cooperate, to belong, to feel proud of belonging; but we also like to compete. For this reason, we are always comparing ourselves with those around us and interpreting their attitudes and behavior based on the beliefs and values we have acquired up to that point.
In a complex, unpredictable social reality with constantly changing contexts and circumstances, we feel obliged to face situations that often lead to unexpected failures. In the constant attempt to be flexible and capable of making the necessary adaptations, we need support, accompaniment, feedback, words and dialog. This allows us to identify that this is precisely the core of the behavioral trainer’s intervention (coaching): anticipating the causes of failure, creating something new and different behaviorally that can make a contribution to the community of which the trainees are a part. Training the spirit of exploration and innovation, the risk of being different, the ability to leave comfort zones: all can be important for this[2]. It can also help create greater sensitivity to individual emotions and their acceptance and integration into the collective dynamics of teams and organizations. Being able to live with your emotions as well as enhancing the emotions of others, putting yourself in their place, without selfishness and resisting the constant appeals of your comfort zone.
It can also be argued that certain negative individual reactions (anxiety, frustration, envy, discomfort, etc.) affect the working environment, cohesion and professional performance. This justifies the argument that organizations, whether sports or business, must continue to provide intensive care for healthy relationships, focus and concentration on tasks, control of anxiety and individual and collective empathy, the willingness to excel and the ability to work as a team that recognizes the whole as greater than the sum of the parts[3].
But, as has already been said, sometimes emotions get out of control and lead to unexpected reactions; and only by living with them can you enhance the emotions of others as effectively as possible; as well as mobilizing their capacity for motivation and overcoming, and that of all those with whom they relate[4]. Nowadays, it is scientifically and philosophically clear that all of the above can be trained[5].
[1] Loehr, J. & Schwartz, The Power of Full Engagement, (New York: Free Press, 2003). Com uma aproximação científica bastante fundamentada, os autores deste livro defendem que o nosso empenho ao serviço de objetivos comuns depende acima de tudo de uma correta gestão das nossas energias positivas.
[2] D. Pink, A nova Inteligência: Treinar o lado direito do cérebro (Lisboa: Academia do Livro, 2009).
Future personal and professional success belongs to a new profile of people: designers, inventors, creatives, storytellers. In other words, imaginative, intuitive people, capable of generating empathy and emotions. “Learning to do, doing and training how to play“: training in contexts and circumstances that are as identical as possible to the reality for which they are intended. And everything can be trained and everything can be improved, as long as the challenges contained in any process of behavioral change are taken on as our own. And leaders and those they lead are emotionally involved with the respective objectives of change. See Punset, E., Viagem ao poder da mente (Lisboa, Publicações Dom Quixote, 2010). This author argues that “the brain is prepared, even if it doesn’t like it, to change its mind; that we build the future around the past; that not all irrational systems of the mind are valid; that we are mentally programmed to be unique and that this is perhaps the explanation for the infinite capacity of human beings to be happy”.
[3] In behavioral terms, it is complex and difficult to simultaneously defend individual interests and the common goals set by the collective. When we adhere to the goal of serving, rather than serving ourselves, we always do so under enormous emotional pressure and significant states of fatigue. It’s therefore not enough just to know what to do, you have to experience how to do it. In training attitudes and behaviors, it’s not a question of simply expressing intentions, but rather, through daily practice where emotions dictate, being able to go beyond “make-believe” and practice (train), learning from mistakes and improving on an ongoing basis.
[4] No human being is passive in the face of the reality that surrounds them. On the contrary, they confront it and learn from it through the diverse experiences that allow them to exist in a universe of continuous exchange of sensitive experiences with other beings. This is a decisive reason why parents, teachers, coaches and company leaders need to take on board the importance of behavioral teaching and training. Anticipating and correcting possible emotional reactions that harm the collective interest and assuming that emotions and feelings are something they live with every moment of their lives (G. Frazetto, Como sentimos -Lisbon: Bertrand Editora, 2014) and to which they must attach the necessary importance. They cause them pleasant or unpleasant sensations and, above all, they often “escape” their control, “leading” them to completely unexpected reactions. This implies that it is justified to insist that only by “living with” their emotions will they be able to enhance the emotions of others as effectively as possible, as well as mobilizing their capacity for motivation and overcoming and that of all those with whom they have relationships. They therefore need to acquire habits that are seen as socially positive, through education and training, naturally conditioned by their social environment. Of enormous importance are the opportunities and experiences they have had, the passion with which they dedicate themselves to the pursuit of the desired improvement and, above all, the presence and quality of support from those who mobilize them to face the necessary change as a personal challenge. Such as being able to give their lives a sense of direction, with the help of someone who asks them questions or draws their attention to the reasons for certain behaviors or, sometimes, simply tells them how to do things and supports them through ongoing leadership and coaching.
[5] Araújo, Tudo se Treina, 29, 30, 31.
