Mary McKillop: Australia’s First Saint
“How coachable are you?”
Today’s Guest Blogger is: Eric Klingensmith, Parishioner, Catechist, and Coach
The phrase “coaching is in my blood” has never run through my veins, yet I’ve always aspired to be an athlete who learns from my coaches, teammates, and most of all, myself. Stereotypically, many choose the coaching path as a result of following those who’ve inspired them along their athletic path, for me it’s been the exact opposite. I ran against the grain of those coaches who mocked, ridiculed, and punished me to develop my own routines and methods. Rather than buying a subscription to the “old school” method of motivating through fear forced upon me by my previous coaches--I choose positive coaching to push my athletes and coaching staff. Each coach I encountered as an athlete, save one in my college coach, always used intimidation tactics to push their teams toward success, yet they always failed to find that success and vowed to not change their strategy. When my time came, I swore to never become the demeaning, heartless, dictating coach, but to be that coach who encourages growth, models positive thinking, and values team cohesion and unity.
My three tenets of coaching: growth, positive thinking, and unity, elicit God’s support in each team that I have fortunately found the privilege to coach and each coaching staff I’ve served. Rather than persecuting our team’s diversity of results due to their ability to run slow or fast, we view them in terms of their growth at their own rate. In doing so, they understand that no matter how fast or slow they run, we care about their growth in the exact same manner as the Lord encourages us to grow in our beliefs and faith each day. Sometimes, we may have setbacks, but our response to not reaching a goal should never be to listen to that pessimistic voice screaming at us to give up or not try again; we should be consumed by finding opportunity in failure, attempting that task until success is finally reached.
Can we do this alone? The simple response is no, we cannot. It’s too easy for us to sit back and let our failed outcomes define us, but we must remain positive in our mindset: find a way to succeed. In essence, that’s being coachable. We must listen not to the naysayers and pessimists of the world, but focus on how we can achieve each and every goal we set before us. Will success be achieved on every attempt? No, but we must be willing to try, try, and try again, making every effort to inch forward, progressing toward success. If we give up, don’t attempt, or simply quit, we will never reach our potential. For each of us the potential to succeed is far greater than we think; only the Lord knows how far we can reach. It’s our job to listen to Him as our coach, follow his model, and value His community within the Church as a support system, continuing to place one foot in front of the other.