No matter what education and background you have, network marketing can be for everyone. However, in order to thrive in network marketing, you have to be coachable and teachable. This is one of the most important traits of successful leaders, even outside of network marketing. Well-known tech leaders like Steve Jobs and Larry Page from Silicon Valley had their preferred mentor in the late Bill Campbell. The best known industry for coaches is sport; can you imagine a football team without a coach?

A coach is not someone who tells you what to do, they are there to HELP you do what you need to do better, smarter, more effectively and more directly in order to reach a goal. If there is no goal, there is nothing to coach. So, what does it really mean to be coachable? It means you are passionate about improving, learning new things and reaching your goal. You start from the mindset of a beginner, and you think of the learning process as a journey. You want to succeed and are willing to do what it takes to achieve your success, and in order to achieve your goal, you are open to honest feedback even when you don’t like what you hear. It means you are resisting the urge to make excuses or get defensive when you are challenged. It means you see the importance of you improving and becoming better even when it hurts your ego. You have decided that you would rather put things right, than to actually be right.

Even if most network marketing companies have a duplicable and easy to plug into system in place, you still must learn the process. You do not have to “invent” the wheel again, you simply must plug into the system and duplicate what already works and learn the trade from practice. Even if you already are well-educated in other areas of life, you will need to set aside your ego and the knowledge you think you already have. When you ask for help and implement the advice you get, this will help you to do the simple things right from the start. It will save you from a lot of frustration and struggles, because no matter how simple and duplicable the system is there will always be a personal touch added to the process and that is discussed and learned through coaching and personal consultations.

Everything that we do in this business should be simple and duplicatable. My experience is that the business partners who create the best results quickest are the ones who are curious, humble, accept that they need to learn new skills step by step, plug into the trainings and take action! They are able to duplicate the process of duplication and coaching no matter where they are.

I truly believe that being coachable is one of the most important traits of successful leaders. When you realise your continued success requires being open to learning from others, confronting uncomfortable truths, working hard, and amplifying your performance, that’s when you grow in to leadership and continue to grow as a leader. The most important factor for successful coaching is the mindset of the person being coached. The more open they are, the more eager they are to learn, the greater the impact of the coaching. It is also very valuable to start from a place of as little preconception as possible. If you are coachable, it will propel you forward and help you to grow.

What’s interesting about coachability is that it’s not a technical skill or inherent to us. It’s a mental mindset that anyone can embrace. Unfortunately, not all people have a growth mindset, and they are not coachable. These people are often resistant to feedback and friendly advice, they take the feedback as criticism, and they are not open to learning new things. These people are mostly looking for faults instead of solutions and they are very hard to coach. It is really interesting to see how a coachable person, with a growth mindset, can get the same feedback but will use it for self-empowerment, improvement and to strengthen themselves. I guess we all have different areas and situations in our life where we are, and where we are not, coachable. This is not black and white – it depends on the situation.

The best leaders define their coachability not only by learning, but also by their ability to apply what they learn. No coach will continue with a person who is never willing to try new things, be challenged and take on the learning process. A major thing with coaching is also to actually prepare and practice and show up for appointments.

Coachability is also very important for accountability. A “hungry for success” person take ownership of their process and will find a coach who can challenge them. If you are coachable you take responsibility for your decisions and actions. A coachable person will report their progress, not make excuses, and they will learn from their mistakes. They will stay focused on the goal and will make things happen. If they are side-tracked, they reach out for help from the coach or get themselves back on track. The goal is shining right in front of them every day and they keep moving closer and closer with the help of the coach.