22 Dec
“We have been listening to music together. I am trying to first get him interested in music BEFORE teaching him to play. All the “other stuff” will come later” – said our younger son, Samar’s music coach.
Cut to our older son – Kabir’s new Tennis Coach telling him – “We have made some corrections to your forehand. You might as well lose the match today, but don’t undo these new corrections. Matches will keep happening! We want to make sure we don’t go back to older habits.”
Every evening, Samar asks Alexa to play all kinds of music & imitates playing the guitar. He then spends about 5 mins practicing on the actual guitar. And while Kabir fought hard to keep his place in his tennis match – he made sure to focus on the corrections in his form. His struggle in the match was his real reward.
2 kids, learning to do exactly what their coaches wanted them to, without even realizing that they had (learnt!).
When coaches focus on engagement, the child-like enthusiasm continues to thrive. Reinstating the value of long term learning over short term wins makes students unknowingly learn how to prioritize the right things. These great coaches prioritize YOU!!
And, these coaching principles apply to us (adults) as well 🙂 When managers (who act as coaches) help us find this joy and support long term learning, they are laying a strong foundation of growth, excellence and happiness.
And in this season of giving, the best gift we can give our teams is our commitment of being a good coach to them 🙂 Wishing a Merry Christmas to you and yours.
