When I was in high school, I read a book of poetry titled “Some Men Are too Gentle to Live Among the Wolves.”
I still clearly remember the feelings I had and the effect that this book had on me. It made me realize that it is ok for a man to have strong feelings.
Empathy is not a bad thing.
There are people in the world who will try to take advantage of you because they will misinterpret caring for weakness.
Men can be gentle and strong at the same time.
I am firm in my commitments and flexible in how I deal with other people.
I have learned over the years how to be myself, and succeed because of it.
Empathy can be a superpower.
Those who know how to read moods, emotions, and needs can control both their own and others.
This is my source of power.
I know myself, and I read others.
I wrote a children’s book when I was in high school called “Edmund Learns How To See.” This book was about a boy who lost his sight, but gained the ability to “see” peoples auras. He was then better able to communicate with people once he could see them more clearly.
This ability to see who people really are, and what they are feeling, is a very underappreciated skill.
We forget how to really see people and work with them directly.
We live in a world where decisions are rarely logical and technical, but we try to force them to be so. We have forgotten that it is relationships and communications that make the world really turn.
This leaves us frustrated and exhausted at our ineffectualness.
For as long as we are still meat-bags in the wild, we must maintain these connections to make progress.
The complexities of the human experience is still beyond our capabilities to describe or define.
We must go through our lives learning every day how to better work with the people around us.
What does this have to do with coaching? I’ll let you decide.
To me – it means that it is ok to care.
To me it is the difference when we are coaching between seeing if someone is hurting or *hurting* during their workout.
When someone pushes themselves physically, you can see their soul as they fight their demons.
Does the athlete need to be pushed, or nurtured?
A good coach knows the difference.
We are watching over you, and not just checking your squat depth.