Get coached and turn good into great

I once had to ask myself that.

Initially, I didn’t think I needed one. But I got one, nevertheless.

My first coach was linked to an individual development programme that Siam City Cement conducted in collaboration with the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland. This programme was part of my transformation.

My coach was an Olympic swimmer. She was the one who opened my eyes.

She told me that I was already successful in my career. However, if I wanted to go from good to great, I needed to focus on what I had to change. I realised that I needed her support.

My coach said I only needed to focus on my priorities. So I came up with three commitments in an action plan: Be more patient, listen more, and let go.

She asked me how I planned to carry out the plan successfully. I told her I needed a person who kept track of what I was doing.

My coach called me every two weeks as a follow-up for three consecutive months to make sure I was doing what I planned.

After the third month, I would have given myself 70 per cent, or a C+. I was not sure I had tried hard enough.

I met my second coach when I took an executive coaching course at the University of California, Berkeley.

I found that I needed to be more serious about changing. Given that I wanted to become a certified coach, I thought that if I can’t change myself, how can I ask other people to change?

I focused on eradicating my weaknesses: being hot-tempered, not listening and taking too much upon myself.

This time I gave myself a B+. I was really proud of myself.

I feel thankful to all my coaches and mentors for their support and advice.

When you want to be a good golfer, you hire a pro to coach you. When you want to lost weight or build your muscles, you need a personal trainer. An executive coach can help improve your career.

Try to find the right coach so the chemistry is right. Walk together and you will become successful in what you want to be.

“A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear, and has you see what you don’t want to see, so you can be who you have always known you can be,” said Tom Landry, the late American football player and coach.

Chantana Sukumanont is executive coach, Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute, [email protected], chantanablog.wordpress.com.