What if Einstein was your Coach

E=MC2
Execution = Mentors X (Coaches Coaching)

Can you imagine tapping into the wisdom of one of the greatest minds the world has ever known? Some believe we can. Now, you can, too.

Among other axioms, Einstein is remembered for stating, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” This is coaching at its core. It is imperative to have the willingness to explore new perspectives of how to see possibilities that exist which we just don’t consciously see yet. In order to do this, you must often allow for the emotions of confusion, awkwardness, and frustration to show up in your experience. Sometimes you might need to get just downright messy.

To experience high caliber performance on game day, you must physically, mentally, and emotionally commit yourself in practice. Do not be encumbered with those who ridicule your performance on the field, for you are on the field and they are not. Mistakes, blunders and absurdities will creep in. This forges experience and character. Be willing to get it wrong; to screw it up. The willingness alone escorts you through to a higher level of excellence. By doing so, you are sure to unearth the solution and add to your bank of wisdom. This will serve to show the way to all who you affect. As Einstein says, “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” Where would we be if all those before us played it safe? What are you making way for by playing full out?

In quantum physics, it is accepted that whatever we focus on expands; or another way of saying it is, whatever we say to ourselves before we look at something determines what we see. We must then seek the proper perspective that will help us help others, as well as ourselves. When Coach Einstein proclaimed, “The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe,” he was pointing out the power of our beliefs and chosen perspectives and how they impact our experience of reality.
[ There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. The choice is yours to make. ]
-Albert Einstein

You see, if you have the belief that things are tough, there’s not enough time, people will let you down, you can’t trust people or the company just doesn’t care anymore, then you will only consciously see the evidence that supports thoseat perspectives. Whereas, if you decide to become what I call an inverse paranoid, i.e., believe that people are out to help you and that the world is out to support you and all we have is time, then you start to consciously see all the evidence to sustain this reality.

To get this, you may need to suspend what you believe to be current reality. For just a minute, let go of what you think you know. “Imagination is more important than knowledge,” as Einstein profoundly articulated. We must learn to access and work with our imagination and go outside the proverbial nine dots. This is where the breakthroughs and the quantum growth exist. We don’t have to force it, either. It really becomes a game of allowing the power of imagination to come to, or even through, us. It is our intuitive hits and flashes of brilliance that we must learn to nurture and advance.

So, how does one access this power or help others to do so? Asking questions unleashes the power of perspective that propels people to pivotal points of progress. However, to access the right questions, you must again surrender to curiosity and let go of what you think you already know. “Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods,” according to Einstein. Let’s face it, if you are reading this book, you are already successful on many levels. Wouldn’t you agree that the more you know, the more you don’t know?

To be a stellar coach is to not have all the answers but rather to be equipped with curiosity and powerful questions which can provoke the brilliance in the people you lead. Or as Einstein says, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” When you couple that statement with “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value,” you can only come to realize that true impactful coaching is not imposing your answers or solutions on others, but rather seeing their brilliance and drawing it forth so they become empowered and accountable to their own purpose.

Trusting your intuition will set you apart as a valuable coach. Even Einstein said, “The only real valuable thing is intuition.” Don’t discount your experience and wisdom and knowledge of the right way to proceed or guide. This however, becomes a delicate dance of allowing those you are coaching to develop their wisdom by deriving from within rather than an injection from you.

Herein lies the difference between manager, mentor, leader and coach. There are obvious times where you must impart critical information to those you lead. You must share policy and procedure so they may operate accordingly and keep productivity and function unencumbered. However, when you are coaching, you are in the truest essence of people development. The reality of it is you can’t do it for them. You can only provide the environment and feedback for them to allow their potential to unfold.

As a coach, remember these words Einstein told us, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” When you shift to coaching mode, avoid information overload and help them to navigate clear of overwhelm. It is conciseness and brevity which have the most impact to move people into action. According to Einstein, “Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty.” The same can be said for coaching.

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction.” -Albert Einstein

Belief in self is paramount. Bridal your doubts, fears and anxieties, for those are the repellent of all desires, goals and achievements. Help those you coach bridal theirs, as well. Identify and embrace your uniqueness, and show others how to do the same. We are meant to live our life and to serve others, not to live others’ lives for them. When you suffer the attacks that may come from staying true to yourself, just remember the wisdom from one of the greatest minds the world has ever known, “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”

When in doubt, simply remember these words which Einstein delivered in 1918 to the Physical Society, Berlin for Max Planck’s sixtieth birthday, “The state of mind which enables a man to do work of this kind is akin to that of the religious worshiper or the lover; the daily effort comes from no deliberate intention or program, but straight from the heart.”

It has taken one of the greatest minds to remind us that Coaching coaching is about coming from the heart.