Be Coachable

Being Open to Feedback can Strengthen your Business and Glorify God

7 min readNov 26, 2024

When I meet business leaders for the first time, I am genuinely interested in their business. I want to understand what their business does and the intentional decisions they have made to delight customers. I enjoy hearing the story of how God got them there — why they started, or bought, or joined the company — and why they have stuck with it.

I also really care about how coachable they are. Have they allowed wise people to speak into their business situations and have they been receptive to that input? If a business leader thinks he already has all the answers or that people outside the business couldn’t possibly know enough to provide worthwhile advice, then my hopes for the business fade pretty quickly. They may enjoy short term success, but I don’t expect it to last — at least not under that leadership.

It may not come up in that first conversation, but I want to hear about their challenges and how they are working to address them. Sometimes, as an outsider that has seen lots of different business situations, I might have a quick observation that can give them a new insight into how they might think differently about overcoming a challenge. But usually persistent challenges require an ongoing dialogue as I (or others) encourage them to run some experiments, ask some questions, gather some data so that together we can diagnose and address the underlying issues in the business.

Why Coachability Matters

This willingness to allow others to walk alongside you, helping you see your unachieved potential, guiding you in how to improve, and encouraging you through the hard work necessary to perform your best isn’t just smart from a business perspective, it’s also biblical.

We have a weekly study at our church that has slowly been going through the book of Proverbs. For the past few weeks we’ve been in Proverbs 14 and I’m struck by how much the seemingly disconnected proverbs in this chapter are applicable to the concept of coachability.

“The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, But the folly of fools is deceit.” (Don’t cover up your weaknesses, but seek to understand them.)
“A scoffer seeks wisdom and does not find it, But knowledge is easy to him who understands.” (Don’t scoff at outside input, but seek to understand it.)
“The heart knows its own bitterness, And a stranger does not share its joy.” (Open up to others so that they can share in your challenges and successes.)
“He who despises his neighbor sins; But he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he.” (Be willing to help others.)
“Where no oxen are, the trough is clean; But much increase comes by the strength of an ox.” (Success may be messy and require lots of work, but it beats the alternative.)
“The crown of the wise is their riches, But the foolishness of fools is folly.” (Embracing this wisdom is worth it.)

Coachability is essential not only to the health of your business, but also to your personal health. Bearing all the weight of running a business alone can easily lead to major health problems.

Scientific studies have shown that our bodies respond to stress by releasing hormones like adrenaline and cortisol that elevate our heart rate, increase our blood pressure, increase our oxygen intake, and boost our energy. This is a good and healthy thing when it happens every once in a while, but when we are constantly stressed it can have lasting effects on our health. It can lead to inflammation in the circulatory system that can increase the likelihood of heart attack. But these hormones and other natural stress triggers can also literally reconfigure our brain and reduce the effectiveness of our immune system. All of this can lead to an increase in our risk for anxiety, depression, digestive issues, headaches, muscle tension and pain, high blood pressure, stroke, cancer, diabetes, auto-immune disorders, sleep problems, weight gain, and cognitive issues.

Bottling up your fears about your business and trying to solve all the problems by yourself can be a big mistake, not just for your business, but for your life. Sharing those burdens can bring instant emotional relief, even if solving the business problems can take months or years.

Bottom line, inviting a wise advisor in to help you see your weaknesses and mistakes, and to help guide you in how to overcome them, can increase your business success, your personal happiness, and your health. What’s not to like about that!

How to Benefit from Coachability

For most people, the hardest part of being coachable is the vulnerability — being willing to expose your weaknesses and your failures to another. Most of us want to be seen as strong and successful, and we fear that if people see our mistakes or gaps in our capabilities, they will think less highly of us. In reality, sharing our imperfections often creates a deeper bond, and a stronger level of empathy that causes the other person to want to help you succeed — if you’ll let them.

Get Russell McGuire’s stories in your inbox

Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.

Remember me for faster sign in

Some of us struggle with “imposing” on others. We don’t want to disrupt their lives. We don’t want to inconvenience someone by sharing our business troubles with them. Even quick advice requires the giver to move beyond “happy thoughts” and think deeply about unpleasant aspects of the business. From my experience, most situations will require even more — ongoing work that often involves dealing with the messiness of human relationships and broken commitments in a fallen world.

There’s no single method to becoming coachable, but I think it requires consciously and intentionally pursuing several types of behavior. For some of these, you may already be doing great. Focus on improving in the areas where you struggle:

Be humble. Recognize your own weaknesses and mistakes.
Be transparent. Allow a small number of trusted people in to see your shortcomings and challenges.
Be open. Invite them to speak into your situation and listen carefully and with an open mind to what they have to say.
Be inquisitive. Their comments may initially seem naive or uninformed, but don’t shut them down. Instead, ask for more clarity. Tell them more so that they can understand the situation better and together uncover how their wisdom can help.
Be responsive. Act on their input. Be doers, not just hearers.
Be persistent. Many problems are complex and won’t go away based on a quick solution. They will require experimentation and learning. Continue to seek outside wisdom throughout the long journey.
Be thankful. Express your gratitude to your advisors and to God for sending them. Don’t wait until all the problems are solved, but even be thankful for the problems that provide the opportunity to work together.

Coachability then starts with the humility of recognizing our own weaknesses and faults and desiring to improve. It works through relationship with others, specifically being open to feedback and correction, and being thankful for those who care enough to help.

As a reminder, this series of articles is about the Attitudes (A’s), Behaviors (B’s), Character Traits (C’s) and Decisions (D’s) that allow us to glorify God with your business. In some ways, this final “behavior” in the A,B,C,D’s of glorifying God with your business is a natural result of the six other disciplines (reading God’s Word, implanting God’s Word, Praying, Worship, Learning, Actively Participating in Church).

Regularly reading, meditating on, and memorizing scripture gives us a right understanding of who we are and who God is. It should instill in us humility and a desire to be sanctified — to be made more like Christ. With prayer and worship we actively pursue a right relationship with God and our sanctification. The discipline of learning is all about increasing in wisdom and knowledge so that we can live out our lives with increasing excellence in alignment with God’s ways. Finally, we are not to be on a solo journey, but rather to be formally joined with other believers in a local church, so that we can help each other to grow in Christlikeness and in love for God and for our neighbors.

What the Bible Says

“Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.” (Proverbs 4:5)
“Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, But he who hates correction is stupid.” (Proverbs 12:1)
“Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, But he who regards a rebuke will be honored.” (Proverbs 13:18)
“Listen to counsel and receive instruction, That you may be wise in your latter days.” (Proverbs 19:20)
“He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” (Proverbs 29:1)
“Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.’ ” (1 Peter 5:5)
“ ‘For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.’ ” (Hebrews 12:6)
“So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19–20)