Teachers Give Theoretical Knowledge, Coaches Give Practical
Warning:
This may be the last E-Impact Blog entry that I write.
Please take it over if I’m gone.
I guess the statement is somewhat true. Our time on earth can end rather abruptly. This is good reason to work hard for positive impact.
The other reason I might be gone is that I am about to challenge teachers across the world; including my wife (a kindergarten teacher).
Let me take a step back to start (not recommended for most arguments). I respect teachers immensely, especially those that teach children. I believe they are not lauded enough and should be consulted more regarding society’s pillars. Selfishly, they should also be paid more.
Theory
Where would humans be without theories?
-a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained.
I really can’t imagine life without theories. We need ideas and experiments. We have a desire to explain things. In the impactmaker space, we have plenty of things to explain. We should be theorizing frequently.
We should research, ask questions, observe, and document our thoughts. Then, we can share them and learn from each other.
Make no mistake that you can’t do it alone and good theories enable you to communicate your ideas and findings to the rest of us.
Practicality
Eventually, we need to take action on our theories. We have to begin to figure things out or else our theories are useless.
We need our idea to become practical.
-the aspects of a situation that involve the actual doing or experience of something rather than theories or ideas.
This definition specifically states that something practical is not a theory. To be absolutely clear, theories come before practicality. Practicality does not replace them.
Coaching
I have given numerous sports examples since the inception of E-Impact. I love to learn from great leaders and coaching. See the September 29, 2020 E-Impact Blog entry and E-Impact 20. This one will be a bit different.
Coaching is something that moves beyond just sports. It’s about encouraging people to take action. I have given enough definitions already, but one for coaching includes the verbs “prompt” or “urge”. In this context, those are perfect.
Part of the impactmaker world is prompting and urging. It’s something that we need (part of the reason I publish this blog) and something that we must do (why I coach you to take action).
It’s very important that we apply what we learn.
What did we learn growing up?
I asked my wife what some of the most important things she teachers her students. She said the following:
-be kind
-be a blessing
-see the good in others
-we don’t fully know what is going on in someone’s head
-ask questions
-your life is much happier when you find ways to help others (That’s my favorite impactmaker!)
-when someone is being mean it’s usually because they are unhappy about something with themselves and they may be taking it out on you
You can see why our personalities are compatible. I’m smiling ear to ear!
I feel the need to throw some praise at my wife because I started out by questioning the effectiveness of teachers.
The lesson is that we have people in our lives that teach us concepts. Concepts have the greatest potential because they are not as limited as specific steps. The problem is that it’s harder to connect to a result and take action for lack of specificity.
I use math lessons as an example. It was my best subject and maybe easiest for me to understand related to this subject as well.
Ironically, I didn’t always enjoy math class. The primary reason is that the methods of solving equations (Why did we call them problems? I don’t think I liked that either.). I understood the concepts and theories but didn’t like following the required steps and “showing your work”. I acknowledge that my free-thinking mind didn’t lend itself to linear problem solving.
I felt that step-by-step work limited my (and the other students’) ability to think critically and actually solve things. It was a bit too robotic. However, I now realize how necessary those steps were, especially for an unmotivated high school student.
Most of the students in my classes probably had no desire to figure math equations out. They needed to be given specific processes to follow. Looking back, my dislike was more for being graded on how I found answers. It was almost as if my teachers’ work had to be validated by showing how us students found an answer because of what they taught us.
I enjoyed figuring things out. I still do to this day. Perhaps this is the spawn of the impactmaker concept. I enjoy solving lots of different types of problems (not just math). In regular business situations, most people will need exact direction on how to handle a specific task. If you don’t like following directions, you’re likely not a good employee. You may fit better in the entrepreneurial world.
Impactmakers need to educate themselves-learn theories. Otherwise, we would have nothing to figure out. Then, take action. Coach yourself to “do”.
Teaching and Coaching
The purpose of this entry is not to pit teachers and coaches against each other. It’s also not to blur the lines between their work. They are definitely different and use separate techniques, but they are not diametrically opposed.
See “Coaching and teaching: Different and similar at the same time.”
This article does a great job of summing up the differences between the two.
I’m here to bridge the gap because it is absolutely necessary for us.
First of all, we have to connect the two disciplines for our own purpose. The value of a good teacher (educator) should feed directly into the value a good coach (motivator). Value is key. It’s on the teacher to understand how the execution will take place. A great math teacher gives you more than just the next step in the equation. They tell you “why” and give good reason to move forward. It’s then up to the coach to apply inspiration with the proper methods in mind.
Secondly, we need to connect the disciplines for the benefit of the people around us. An early stage impact project likely only has one person leading. If that’s the case, it’s vitally important that you understand how to be a teacher and a coach. They might be interchangeable but applying the concepts of each will help your impact be as effective as possible. Your team and beneficiaries may not know when you are the “teacher” and when you are the “coach”. In fact, it’s probably best that they are not identified.
Eventually, you may find out where your strengths lie and add another leader to your team to compliment you. In this situation, it’s likely that one of you will fit more into the teacher role and the other in the coach role. Neither is better or worse or more or less important. Truthfully, neither is truly required either.
There are a lot of businesses and other types of organizations that don’t have someone filling one of the roles. I suppose it’s possible that a company could have neither but that seems highly unlikely. There has to be some sort of leadership.
Make sure that your team has both, whether it’s just you or even two other people.
The Bridge
A bridge is an excellent metaphor for the relationship between coaching and teaching.
It’s important to be able to access both sides of a bride. Otherwise, why would the bridge be built?
Let’s talk about how to connect theory and practicality. It would be terribly ironic if I did a bunch of teaching in this entry but no coaching.
Here’s where we apply what we’ve learned.
A. What to do while learning - before you cross the bridge:
Note processes while learning(maybe I should have put this at the beginning of the entry).
Ask questions with election in mind.
Explore examples.
Pace your learning. Faster is often not better for execution
B. What to do after learning but before executing - crossing the bridge:
Compare notes.
Review concepts.
Review examples.
Set a plan. E-Impact 50 has plenty of information on planning.
C. How to execute - once you’ve crossed the bridge:
Follow the plan.
Anticipate changes.
Remind yourself of the goal.
Celebrate incremental progress. See the July 21, 2020 E-Impact Blog entry.
The Head Coach and The Principle
I couldn’t get away without a real sports example and referencing the education world again.
The best head coaches in the National Football League (NFL) and other professional sports leagues (some use the term manager) are able to strategize (teach) and coordinate (coach) at the same time.
The best school principles are able to teach the curriculum and manage the schools operations. They are teaching and coaching the teachers that are part of their team.
This is my encouragement to you as a leader in the impact space. You are going to have to wear both hats.
The best way to improve at anything is to practice it. I suggest that you think about which of these roles you naturally fit into. You’re probably already practicing in the area. Keep doing it. But also, you have to practice what you aren’t great at. Start simple.
Read something and share it. That’s teaching. Then, apply it with someone else. That’s coaching.
You can be the teacher that does and the coach that did.
Know Yourself
The best thing that you can do to manage theory and practicality is to know yourself. Think about what you are most inclined to seek. It’s kind of like a self-explored personality test but with only two results. A good assessment normally has at least four main results and most time there are many subsets. This is not nearly that complicated.
Determine if you are a more natural teacher or coach. Then consider the bridge items from above. Concentrate on those that supported your weaker link. This will help to connect what is natural to you and what is not.
You are a teacher and a coach. But most importantly you are a leader.
Leading is caring.
Caring is impact.