“Will plus skill can thrill,” is a phrase people use in sport. So how does this apply in other situations? Imagine that you have been asked to coach a person, but you are not sure whether they are motivated. It can be good to establish their attitude before embarking on the coaching. The key question to answer is:

Let’s consider how you can explore this factor.

1) You can clarify whether the person is willing to put in the hard work required to reach their goal.

Clarify whether the person is prepared to work hard to reach their goal. You can, for example, invite them to fill-in and send you the ‘Coaching Contract’. (See the piece called 3 tips for establishing a coaching contract.) This asks the person to describe: a) The goals they want to achieve; b) Their responsibility in working towards achieving the goals; c) The help they want from you as the coach; d) The measures that will tell them they have reached their goals. Completing this contract shows the person is willing to put in lots of work just to get to first base.

2) You can clarify the person’s will to accept the pluses and minuses involved in reaching the goal.

This is a vital but often overlooked part of working with people. Looking at the goal they want to achieve, invite the person to list what they see as the pluses and minuses involved. One way to illustrate this, for example, is to consider the challenges facing a drug addict who wants to ‘change their life’. Looking at it from the addict’s point of view:

The pluses will be:

· They will live longer.

· They will possibly build better relationships.

· They will possibly like themselves more.

· They may feel in more control.

The possible minuses will be:

· They must take responsibility every day for the rest of their lives.

· They must find a new purpose - other than getting a fix.

· They must work to get money.

· They must make new friends.

· They must deal with their feeling without drugs.

The drug addict’s odyssey is one example – but every person’s journey will involve upsides and downsides. Let’s return to the person you are trying to encourage. Are they prepared to accept the whole package – the pluses and minuses involved in reaching their goal?

3) You can clarify the person’s will to keep working hard after they have achieved success.

This is crucial when, for example, working with rising sports stars. Some athletes develop a pattern of almost reaching their target - winning a tennis title, golf championship or whatever - but failing at the final hurdle. Certainly it can be due to circumstances, such as facing an outstanding competitor - but there can be other reasons. Subconsciously the person may feel:

“What happens if I win? Everybody will expect me to keep winning in the future. Am I prepared to give up my social life? Am I prepared to put in the hard work necessary to continue being successful?”

Some athletes answer ‘Yes’. Others are more uncertain and this shows in their performance. Clarify whether the person is ready to keep growing after their first triumph. After establishing a person’s will, help them to learn the skill they need to achieve their goal. You can then work together to achieve ongoing success. If you wish, try tackling the following exercise on clarifying a person’s motivation to achieve their goal.

The things I can do to establish a
person’s will to achieve their goal are:

*

*

*

The things I can do to establish a person’s will to accept
the pluses & minuses involved in reach their goal are:

*

*

*

The things I can do to establish a person’s will to keep
working hard after they have achieved success are:

*

*

*

There are many ways to set visions. One way is to invite people to pick a date in the future. They are to describe the actual words they want to hear others saying then that will show they have achieved the picture of success. Doing this exercise enables people [...] Continue Reading…

Sports psychology provides many concepts that people can use in other areas of life. Here is one that provides food for thought. If you are a football manager, for example, you can play a match using the positive, percentage or paralysis approach. Sometimes you might pursue all three approaches [...] Continue Reading…

“Sometimes I get extremely excited about a new idea,” said one person. “Turning it into something practical, I then do work that is extremely satisfying. After making my living at it for a while, however, I begin to lose interest. Is this natural? Or should I stick at it [...] Continue Reading…

“Success calls for getting the right balance between managing your sponsors, team and customers,” said one MD. “People often think that climbing the corporate ladder will lead to them spending their days directing strategy – but this isn’t the case. Frequently you spend increasing amounts of time managing your [...] Continue Reading…

Imagine you have been asked to find positive solutions to difficulties between people. You may have been invited to solve deep-seated conflicts, ongoing arguments or fundamental differences. Such situations are often the result of long-term patterns, so there is not a quick fix. The best route is to go [...] Continue Reading…

How do you rate your present state of health? There may be several aspects to consider, of course, such as your physical, psychological and philosophical health. We all want to care for our well-being, but sometimes we get wake-up calls. You may, for example, carry a cold for months; [...] Continue Reading…

Peak performers relax and rehearse to get great results. “My best performances come after preparing properly,” said one person. “The times when I have messed-up – and failed to deliver the right results – have been when I didn’t relax or rehearse properly.” Here are three steps you can [...] Continue Reading…

How can you make a living doing what you love - inside or outside an organisation? There are several rules for finding sponsors. These apply whether you are a freelancer or seeking fresh challenges within an organisation. As we know, people often buy from those they already know in [...] Continue Reading…

People often follow a certain process when being creative - such as when solving a problem, painting a picture, writing a book or whatever. They go through the process of opening-up and closing-down. Let’s explore how this works in practice.

1) You can start by ‘opening-up’.

Imagine you want to write [...] Continue Reading…