I just started working out again. Its been a long time and I believe the last time I stuck to a workout schedule, Obama was beginning his 2nd term. Times have changed. Being much older and coupled with previous injuries, my confidence with what I can do in the gym was very low. One day last week, I decided to push myself on the bench press, so I reached out to some random fellow who was working out next to me. Don’t know his name and have never seen him before. I asked if he wouldn’t mind giving me a spot. I said I hadn’t worked out in forever and I’m pushing 58, so I have no idea if I can get 1 rep, 5 reps, or if the bar will crash down on me with this weight. What he said to me in return was so simple, but so compelling as well. The guy told me verbatim, “Lets do 4 and we’ll go from there.” Longer story short, I was able to do 5 reps thanks to him.
Thinking back on what was said, I realized his simple words help set an attainable goal, were motivating, and gave me confidence. For 60 seconds, this guy was my coach. Many of us have full time coaches. Life coaches, career, accountability, & motivational coaches, family coaches but you never really hear about ‘on-call’ impromptu, or spontaneous coaching. Someone you can call anytime for quick advice, opinion, motivation, guidance, or confidence. People who fight back against addiction have sponsors whom they are strongly encouraged to call, so I guess sponsors could be categorized as impromptu coaches but again, you don’t hear much about on-call spontaneous coaching.
At Living Down South Realty, we encourage collaboration. It’s in our DNA. It’s our culture. Some of our agents are being internally coached, many choose not or have outside coaching. In any case, there isn’t any one agent or member of leadership who won’t pick up the phone to answer another agent’s question, give advise, opinion, guidance, or motivation. Is it possible our culture of collaboration be considered a version of spontaneous, on-call coaching? We think it is, so we have decided to coin the term ‘spot coaching.’ It’s not a term that is chic, hip, or ultra cool, but we don’t see any difference with asking someone for a spot at the gym or picking up the phone to ask a colleague for advise. We believe our culture of collaboration is the cornerstone to the success of each and every agent, so if someone asks if Living Down South Realty has a collaborative work environment where ideas and successes are shared, I’m sure the answer will be an encouraging ‘yes.’ We call it SPOT COACHING.
– Guy Victor (Vic) is a Founder and Operating Partner with Living Down South Realty
