The other day in a coffee shop chat, a very good coach said something that made me pause and write it down.
“Learners,” she said, “are the best teachers.”
The coach is Joyce Bukowiec, who discovered basketball at an early age, fell in love with it, and learned all she could. Today she is a legend in New Jersey for teaching young players how to shoot. It’s nothing for her and her students to be on the court at 6 in the morning, paying the price for excellence. Her learning has turned into teaching.
If you coach, manage or lead in any way, you can learn from the best teacher in the world: your GPS.
Think of it. Your GPS never yells at you, never loses patience. If you take a wrong turn, it doesn’t change its tone or express disapproval. It merely guides you back to the correct path. It takes in the best information at that given moment (learner) and tells you what you should do next (teacher). Above all, it has no ego.
Whether you’re learning or teaching, the more you can take your ego out of the equation, the more you can connect with possibilities.
If teachers think it’s all about them and their reputation, that gets in the way. The same is true if students take feedback personally.
When volleyball guru Carl McGown gave feedback, he dealt in facts, not criticism: “The sky is blue, the grass is green, and you’re bending your arms.”
If you can become more like a GPS — whether as a teacher or a learner — you’ll discover how far it can take you.