I was 17 years old when I started learning Karate (traditional Shotokan Style). Until that time, I had never been a very sporty person. Hence, it took me a couple of years of intense practice before I was able to join the first Karate competitions.
I was in a way lucky to have a great trainer despite of living in a small German city, famous for its jigsaw puzzles: Ravensburg. The trainer of our Dojo, Guenther Mohr, was at the same time national team coach, won numerous titles such as Vice World Champion (1 time), European Champion (5 times) and German Champion (12 times).
Our junior (age 18-21) team won in 1983 the State Championship of Baden-Wuerttemberg and in 1984 the National Championship of Germany. I was proud to be member of this winning team. In the same year, I completed high-school and went to the army for a bit more than a year.
Being away from Ravensburg during the army times, I had little opportunity to practice Karate. Having returned for my mechanical engineering studies, I picked it up again, however, due to study-related work, I would only go once, max. twice a week to the Dojo.
After completion of my engineering degree in Ravensburg, I went to France for post-graduate studies in International Marketing. That was the time when I quit Karate...
...until August 2004, approx. 16 years later...
It is amazing how much the body (yes, the body, not the mind) remembers. Of course, it took my quite a few lessons to catch up to come even close to the level I have been 16 years ago. And I still didn't reach this level after 3 months of not very regular practice. But I can see that I make great progress every time and it reminds me of catching up with a language not practiced for a few years.
How is all this related to Coaching?
I realized during these training sessions that I had a truly great coach some 20years ago and that I benefit from the great learnings of that time even today. Would I have progressed at that time with an average coach? For sure. Would I have become a member of the winning team at that time with an average coach? Rather not. Would I be able to pick up things so quickly now, after a pause of 16 years if I had an average coach? Unlikely.
Executive Coaching basically has the same target as Sports Coaching, that is, to help the coachee to reach peak performance. Average coaches may help you to improve faster than you would without the coach, masterful coaches may help you to be the best you can - be it in Karate or in Leadership.
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