Yesterday morning I spent some quality time on the treadmill and as I was trudging along, I was listening to the audio book, Quitter by Jon Acuff. Interesting combo, right?
In this book, Jon brings up the idea of finding parallels between your day job and your dream job. This was a topic I briefly touch on in my graduation speech, bringing your passion into your profession. Finding those parallels is what I was actually doing. So that is what I am going to share with you today, the parallels between a police officer and life coach.
Police Officer & Life Coach
Service Oriented – A Helping Hand
The sheer nature of these two are very service oriented. No matter how you look at it police are here to help and serve you. They come to the rescue when you are having a “not so good” day or they are enforcing the law to keep your community safe. If you are the target of the second, I’m sure in the moment you don’t feel it’s helping, but take a step back and look at the big picture for this one. A life coach seems self explanatory when it comes to being service oriented and here to help. It is simply that, you work with them to help you achieve a goal, grow, develop, and succeed.
Problem Solver
Have you ever noticed that police are professional problem solvers? When people call the police it is because they have a problem they either don’t know how to solve, can’t solve themselves, or need help solving. Sound familiar when it comes to coaching? Yes indeed! Just as in coaching, police tailor the solution to the specific situation and person. There is no one set solution for everything. Police must take into account the totality of the circumstances and find an effective, efficient, and workable solution to whatever the problem may be. Coaches work with their clients on problems and goals to find a solution just as an officer.
Skilled Communicator
Have you ever worked with a coach? Do they ask a lot of questions? Are they active listeners? Do they have the magical skill of helping you see the message from more than just one angle? Did the phase “I never thought of it that way” run through your mind? I am most certainly sure it did!
So now look at police officers, who do we communicate with on a daily basis? Everybody! We must effectively communicate across language barriers, culturally diverse populations, emotionally charged individuals, and people from all woks of life. The situation may be high-risk, making clear communication vital; this may include, interviewing a witness, a suspect, or even the victim of a crime. The topics range from a lost wallet, a violent criminal, to the victims of a terrible crime. Just think about that for a moment. Think about the variety of communication skills needed. Skilled officers will tailor their communication style to each environment, each person, and each crime. In their communication tool box they use words, tone, rate, body language, juxtaposition, and of course eye contact.
Accountability
This one seems simple enough; police hold you accountable for your actions. Enough said there, right? What about life coaches? In the coaching/client relationship the coach often serves as an accountability partner. You create a plan, the coach helps to hold you accountable in following through with the plan. While working with the coach, you might also build an accountability tool into your plan. That means creating ways to help hold yourself accountable. Think about it like going to the gym, you are more likely to consistently go if you have someone to go with. It’s simple because regardless if it is formal or informal, they hold you accountable!
Motivational Experts
This is a fun one, I mean who has ever classified police officers as motivational speakers? Do you think they are? Let’s look at this. Police officers’ goals include cooperation and compliance. How do they achieve that? They will “talk you into it” or the one no body likes, that use of force ladder. The first is the one I would like to unpack. They talk you into it, what does that mean? You ultimately had the choice to cooperate or resist; the officers talked with you which raises your internal motivation to cooperate. They find out what motivates you for that given situation and discuss it with you to help you see the need to comply. Through this they can help you see multiple perspectives, solutions, weigh the pros and cons, along with guiding your thought process through emotional barriers. Do these sound familiar to those with coaching experience?
Cliffs notes summary: Police officers and coaches are here to serve you and help you. They are skilled communicators that will help motivate you, work with you to find a solution to your problem, and hold you accountable!
Who does’t need a police officer as a friend or a life coach? They can be one in the same! Just remember I love to help, so shoot me an email.