Ted Talk: “It’s not about how good you are now, it’s about how good you’re going to be.”

Anecdotal evidence shows that professional coaching works. I’m the first person to tell you that there’s always room for improvement. Everyone should seek to become better at what they do and a coach provides perspectives and methods that most individuals wouldn’t come to on their own. 

The above Ted Talk by surgeon, Atul Gawande is one of my favourites because his message rings true. I love his main theme and opener here: “It’s not about how good you are now, it’s about how good you’re going to be.” That’s what I think about in my own coaching practice. As Gawande says, there’s a misconception that in order for professionals to get better, they study, graduate, go into their line of work and improve on their own over time. Professional development is seen as an individual pursuit—true experts shouldn’t even need coaches. Why does that differ in sports where a coach is seen as essential towards athlete progress?

Both Gawande and I think that progress happens when someone else weighs in. Gawande saw a shift in his own operating room when he hired a coach. He even studied the effects of coaching on nurse and doctor performance in a birth center in India and proved that coaching sees results. If you’re interested in becoming the best version of yourself, I challenge you to watch this video. What matters isn’t whether you’re an amateur or an expert. What matters is your potential and how good you’re going to become.