Barnabas File

Photo: Matt Kryger/USA Today Network) As I begin this blog, let me share a couple of disclaimers.   First, former University of Tennessee and NFL quarterback Peyton Manning is not everyone’s favorite person.   Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion.   Second, athletic coaching and life coaching are not exactly alike but there are some commonalities.      If you will allow me to proceed with those things understood, I want to share some comments that Manning made in a recent charity event in Indianapolis. Manning was an outstanding quarterback but he is also a generous philanthropist, community leader, and businessman.  When questioned recently about his career, he had some very positive things to say about athletic coaching that also seem to apply to life coaching. In talking about his former coach, Tony Dungy, Manning said: “Coaches have been the best leaders I’ve been around. Tony Dungy was every bit as good a h...

In life or leadership coaching, we often make a distinction between our process and that used by athletic coaches.   This may be because the image of coaches who appear driven to succeed at any cost.   For example, the late Vince Lombardi is reported to have said, “Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing.”   But Lombardi also said, “Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.”  All types of coaches can agree to that statement. We can see similarities between the two processions especially if we perceive the role of the athletic coach being to help the athlete reach her or his full potential.  This is what life coaches do as well. For example, both types of coaches recognize the potential in those with whom they work.  They stand on the side and observe abilities that have not been developed and skills that can be s...