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Writer's pictureDr Jenni McArthur

On Being Coachable

This week’s short "Note to Self" to keep your thinking on track…


Being coachable - a concept with its roots in early sport psychology, involves the extent to which we are open to learning new skills, the intensity of effort we direct towards our improvement, and the degree of trust and respect we have for those who are coaching, guiding, or mentoring us.



As performers we are asked to consider-


  • Our motivation to improve our skills,

  • Our inquisitiveness,

  • Our openness to learning,

  • The level of trust and respect that we have for the person or source of coaching and their ways of working.



More specifically, the research of Giacobbi (2000) tells us that coachable individuals tend to be-


  • Open to a variety of sources of information related to their endeavours ( e.g., books, other coaches, the media).

  • Dedicated to the process of learning and improvement.

  • Willing to exert considerable effort to change their skills and ways of working in order to improve their performance.

  • Demonstrate trust and respect for their coaches by being open to advice, feedback, suggestions, and criticism.

  • After receiving feedback, coachable individuals work persistently to apply suggestions to their performance process and they frequently turn coaching feedback into quick results in their field.

  • Free and comfortable talking to their coach about the training process and give honest feedback to the coach about how they experience the process and application of feedback.

  • Often a coachable individual will view the coach as a partner in the process of improvement.

  • Furthermore, coachable athletes view criticism as a chance to learn and develop their skills and they often display the same attitude and characteristics towards their teammates and other coaches.


Coachability is thought to be a key component observed in those who succeed at the highest levels, One reason for this is thought to be because the attitude such individuals adopt is maintained consistently throughout their careers resulting in natural growth and continuous improvement.


It's valuable for everyone to reflect on their coachability and to make improvements at this base level.


No matter what your position, be it athlete or coach, client or consultant, follower or leader, coachability is a highly valuable psychological skill for all of us.


Think about it...








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In this blog I reviewed the work of Giacobbi Jr, P. R. (2000). The athletic coachability scale: Construct conceptualization and psychometric analyses. The University of Tennessee to support my writing.

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