The power of self-belief (1)
It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult. (Seneca Jo)
My younger son, Ohiorere (“God’s gift”) or Ohio for short is a cricket enthusiast. He not only plays the game, but also studies the bowling actions of great exponents of the game such as the Australian spin wizard, Shane Warne, as well as the batting techniques and ‘trigger’ movements of the likes of Brain Lara and Jacque Kallis on the pitch. He has YouTube to thank for the opportunity and benefits of spending many hours watching the videos of these Cricket legends in action. He would then take his cricket kits, get on the field with his older brother and friends, trying to simulate the processes that he had watched on YouTube.
These were being done while he was still about ten years old. And, as he grew older and became more adventurous, we (his parents) decided that he needed proper guidance to develop his talents, so we got him a professional batting, bowling and fielding coach, in addition to his joining a youth cricket team. To make things even better for him, the principal of his school, Rorich is not just a cricket enthusiast himself, but also but also a cricket coach. So apart from his administrative and teaching duties, he has taken on the role of coach of the school cricket team.
On one occasion, my son had to travel out of the country and missed more than two weeks of school work. On his return, he had to do a lot of catching up in order to do well in the approaching exams. In the meantime, he had been selected to represent the school junior cricket team in an annual interschool youth cricket tour to Durban, the scenic South African Coastline city. This was indeed a dream come true for my son, but there was the issue of his making excellent grades in his examinations first.
The school principal, who expectedly would accompany the cricket team on the tour therefore called me to a meeting in his office, with my son and his class teacher in attendance. A deal was made with my son at that meeting by the principal. He would make the team and go on the cricket tour only if he excelled in his forthcoming exams. My son made a promise to his teacher and principal and we left. But, on the way home my son turned to me and asked if I could ‘coach’ him to make excellent grades.
What he was asking in essence was if I could keep him motivated and inspired enough to stretch himself, almost beyond limits in order to achieve his goals. This was not too difficult, because he was already quite self motivated. As his emergency success coach, all I needed to do was to keep him focused on the goal(s). I also needed to help him maintain the right psychological balance and mindset. Finally, I was to support him to be fully accountable to himself, as well as to his class teacher and most especially his school principal who had placed much trust in his ability to excel in the exams and on the cricket pitch.
In the weeks following, I saw a determined, gutsy and self-driven twelve year old boy who challenged himself to excel all-round. We spent quality time together to evaluate his progress, but he made sure that he did what he needed to do, in order to achieve his goals. Get what he wanted to get. That is what was most important. At the end of the day, when the results of the examinations were released, my son indeed had excellent results the best he ever had. Moreover, he scored the best marks (94%) in the subject taught by the principal.
Later, when I met Rorich at the reception before the cricket tour, all he could say to me is “Ohio murdered it”. My son went on the tour, won trophies and enjoyed himself, but his performance at the exams became the turning point for him. He has become a more confident scholar, being able to challenge himself to set and achieve goals, not only in academics, but in other areas. Obviously, Ohio had the potentials to excel, but he definitely needed the nudging, encouragement and motivation of a coach, in this case his school principal and cricket coach to unlock those potentials. Well done Rorich, the coach.
Coaching is not just a process, it is a structured form of intense communication, designed to ‘carry’ people, as if in the carriage of a physical coach to their desired destination, dreams and goals. As long as both the coach and the client can structure the kind of communication that will engage the heart and inspire realistic actions, coaching will be successful. Importantly, this is applicable to everyone irrespective of age, class, race, position, and operating environment. It is all about having the self beliefs and having someone the coach) to challenge those beliefs to compel positive actions. You can read more about the transformational power of coaching at www.ceedcoaching.com.
Emmanuel Imevbere