Janitorial Business Success Tip: Be Coachable!

Are you coachable in how you run your commercial cleaning business?

People say they are – but often act like they’re not. Being ‘coached’ is different than being coachable.

Being ‘coached’ is easier – all you need to do is to be willing to sit and listen to the coach. Being coachable goes way beyond that -it requires a lot more than going through the motions.

Being coachable starts with an act of surrender – and that’s not easy.

Why?  Well, for one thing, pride gets in our way. When we are too proud to ask for, or receive help with an open mind from those who have the answers – we struggle.

Fortunately, the kind of surrendering needed to be coachable isn’t the kind that leaves you broken down, but, rather, it’s the kind that can build you up.

We don’t surrender our values or who or what we are – but we do surrender the idea that we have all the answers.

Successful people, in all walks of life, from sports to business know the value of, not only of being coached, but of being coachable.  It was one of the important things my father taught me. I tried to pass it along to our children.

Truth be told, when I was younger, I didn’t always follow this principle of finding and listening to a qualified expert; case in point – golf.

As a teenager, I can’t begin to tell you how much time, money and energy I wasted, week after week – swinging wildly at bucket after bucket of range balls with my friends who were, frankly, as bad as me.

Here’s the funny thing – as lousy as we all were, it didn’t keep us from sharing our best golf swing tips with each other – certainly a case of the blind leading the blind.

The results?  Well, aside from a few, ok a lot of laughs; zero. Then one day, I spent some time and money taking lessons from a golf pro.

Results – dramatic, and in a short time too (not Arnold Palmer great… but fantastic for me.)

Lesson: Find someone who has successfully done what you would like to do and learn
from them.  Things can change – but only if you’re willing to ask, listen, think, learn and implement.

Being ‘coachable’ starts with something that’s hard – surrendering, but it can be THE thing that takes you from where you are… to where you want to go with your janitorial business