The fastest way for you to get from where you are to where you want to be, is to get help from other people who have knowledge, experiences, and insights that you do not have.

This is why every high-level, professional, athlete, entertainer, and business person has coaches, masterminds, programs, and courses that they invest in so that they can reach their goals faster.

What follows are two lists:

The first are three things you need to do to be a great client to your coach.

The next are the six things you need to do to be a great coach yourself.

Be a Good Player!

Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden was once asked what it took to be the best coach.
“That’s easy,” Wooden said. “Have the best players.” It was a tongue-in-cheek answer, but it’s true. No matter how good a coach is, no coach can make you into an incredible player.

The best coaches, smartly, choose the best players, those who are destined to be successful. All a coach does is enhance and facilitate the process; they do not “make” that player what that player is not willing to (or capable of) being.

Be Coachable

Some people claim to want to be coached, but bristle the first time someone tells them anything about their “game” that isn’t complimentary. These are people who want to be coach, but only if and when it’s convenient for them. This mentality is the opposite of why coaching exists.

The best teachers have the best students.
The best writers have the best readers.
The best Podcasters have the best listeners.

Invest.

The best thing is about more than money. A great coach will challenge you to behave differently and to give more — in time, attention, energy, and focus — than what you’re used to or comfortable with.
So if you’re not invested, it won’t work.

Now, for what we want from our Bosses, Coaches and Leaders…

Suppress your ego.

As a coach, be more concerned with the glory of the business, team or group than your own.
I had a coach in college who’d played 13 years in NBA. I know that because, every time a player challenged or questioned him, he would yell back about how he had played 13 years in the NBA as a way of shutting the player up. The thing was, he wasn’t an NBA player anymore. Over time, players started to tune him out.

Care about your people, don’t just use them for your own agenda.

There was a Netflix show called Last Chance U that followed a junior college football season. Many of the players felt their head coach didn’t really care about them; that the coach was just using the players for his own needs.

The coach himself would probably disagree. Regardless, the players BELIEVED IT. And perception is reality.

Be consistent so your team knows what to expect.

This means upholding rules, enforcing penalties, and calling people out on an as-needed basis. If the coach of a sports team holds the star player accountable, then everyone falls in line. If, on the other hand, that same coach doesn’t hold the star accountable and everyone notices it, the coach undermines his own authority.

Elevate leaders within the group.

As the leader of a team, you don’t want to lord over things all the time; any voice gets tuned out if it’s heard often enough. Smart leaders find and elevate leaders amongst the group and empower them with authority to be a “lieutenant”.

No matter how strong, successful, or eloquent you are, some days your people just don’t wanna hear you— they DO need to hear it, just not from YOU. So, find people who can be a conduit between you and them. This is the job of assistant coaches in sports (and maybe one reason why many basketball teams have more coaches than players!).

Know how to address people as PEOPLE.

While you must be consistent and enforce your standards, you must also understand that there are people you can yell at in front of everyone — and people you need to take aside and talk to.
I had sports coaches who would yell and scream at any player who made a mistake. While I was the type of player who could take it, not every player could. Three times between college and professional ball, I saw coaches bring players to tears with their words in front of the whole team.

While the coach may have had a good point, you’ve lost that personal mentally with that approach. Now the team is down one member.
You can’t scream at everybody.

Make clear who you are from the beginning.

I had a different coach in college who didn’t follow all the above points to a T, but I can’t be mad at him: He’d made it perfectly clear to me when I was being recruited that he did things a certain way.

And he wasn’t lying.

So while I didn’t always enjoy his style, I respect it to this day — because he was honest and up-front about. Team building is a tough business. And these days, we all have a 6th sense for BS. And with the internet, you can’t lie about who and what you are — someone will expose you!! The more honest you are about what you’re offering and how it will be, the better the chances you’ll attract your ideal team members, and the happier they’ll be about their decision.