Bill Gates’ Ted Talk: Everyone Needs a Coach

By Robert Hargrove

I was stunned when I came across a Ted Talk by Bill Gates entitled, “Everyone Needs a Coach.” According to Gates, whether we are a CEO, leader, teacher, basketball player, or bridge player, we all need people who will help us reach our goals and give us feedback. Gates’ Ted Talk

I was also stunned when I came across a survey conducted at Stanford University based on a study of hundreds of CEOs that only 1/3 said they received any outside coaching on how they showed up as a leader in the organization, or the way they ran their business, though almost two thirds said they would be open to coaching.

If everyone needs a coach, how about you? What makes you the exception?

Curiously the best performers all had coaches. Alan Lafely of P&G was coached by Peter Drucker, Jack Welch of GE was coached by Ram Charan, Jeff Bezos was coached by Bill Campbell. The lowest performers, it turns out, were the least receptive to coaching and feedback, especially when things weren’t going well.

Yet, when Bill Gates said everyone needs a coach, he wasn’t just talking about leaders at the top of the heap, but everyday professionals, you and I.

In my work at Masterful Coaching, I have noticed that the professionals who achieve the greatest success in society are those who believe in life-long learning and are most likely to seek a coach.

Some famous examples are Damon John of Shark Tank, whose coach is my good friend Jay Abraham, Oprah Winfrey and Maya Angelou, Lady Gaga and Elton John.

I wonder what this says about all the leaders and managers I talk to who are obsessed with a bad boss, feel stuck in a company where they have no future, and who argue for their own limitations, yet for whom it never occurs to reach out to someone and find a coach.

In the old days, when coaching had a certain stigma as remedial, that might have been an acceptable excuse, but that stigma is nowhere as strong as it was, and coaching is seen in terms of going for an impossible future, meeting goals, and solving problems in the process.

Whose job is it to help people find a coach?

I think it’s up to the CEO and the HR business partner to create a climate where people are encouraged to find a coach, and a budget is provided to do so.

I also think it’s the job of ordinary people, like you and I, to step up to the plate and ask for coaching: “I would like a coach to help me become a better leader, do a better job, deliver for the company.”

It’s amazing how many people I come across who are scared to death to do that. People, you won’t know if you don’t ask.

The same is true when it comes to “personal” or “life coaching.” It may sound wooley to some people, but it’s absolutely a great idea to get coaching for clarifying your goals, creating a roadmap to get there, and resolving stuck situations.

Asked what the best advice he ever got, Eric Schmidt, the former Chairman and CEO of Google said, “Find a coach.”

Let me throw down a gauntlet and see how many people take me up on it: call my office for a free 30 min coaching session 617-953-6230.