Steve Jobs and Coaching

Having recently read the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson I have come away with a new appreciation for the man who has been the face of Apple over the last 30 years. If you put aside his astounding lack of interpersonal skills then you find a guy who’s drive for perfection and skill for marketing made him the leader of the worlds most valuable muti-national corporation. He is arguablely the most successful and influential person of our time.

I found Jobs’s story unbelievably interesting. By all accounts he was a complete asshole to everyone he worked with and was a less than stellar family man. However, in spite of his quirks, his vision and drive to develop the perfect product was remarkable and his skill for marketing was unparalleled. These qualities are ones to be desired in any field. Constantly, throughout the book I was drawing comparisons between my work in strength and conditioning and the work he was doing at Apple. Thinking, “How can I apply his thought process to what I do?” This is what I came up with…

Strive For Excellence

Jobs’s greatest skill was product development. He had a desire to put out the perfect product and he would spare no expense to build something truly revolutionary. In the world of strength and conditioning I believe there is no such thing as perfection. I hardly see an exercise that cannot be coached or a program that cannot be tweaked, but we can strive for excellence.

In coaching your clients and athletes we must strive for excellence. Don’t accept “ok”. You’re a coach, be a coach!! That’s what you are paid for. You wouldn’t want your financial advisor to be satisfied with your “ok portfolio”, would you? I would expect that you would want him to help you make it awesome, even if that meant a little extra work! Don’t settle for mediocre execution from your clients, demand the best! Even when you are tired! The bottom line is that getting from good to great only requires a little bit of extra inititive. Make your client the (almost) perfect product!

Blend Art and Science

In developing his products Jobs always had a unique way of blending artistic touch with the technological workings of the Apple hardware. This lead to the beautiful, simple and unique look of the Mac, IPod, IPhone and IPad. This was his way making the product desirable and unique for the consumer.

When it comes to training, the best coaches can blend the art of coaching with the science of anatomy and physiology to fit the client properly. Practicality rules all in the world of coaching especially when it comes to group training but this does not mean we can throw the science principles out the window.  If Jobs simply focused on the technology he would had a machine that was unattractive and not user friendly. If he had focused solely on the artistic design he would have had a pretty box that didn’t perform up to par. Knowing what works with what clients and how to interweave these two opposing concepts while delivering results is what will make you a great coach.

Give Honest Feedback

Steve Jobs was brutally honest, many times to a fault. He frequently called people assholes an idiots and would label their ideas as “complete shit.” His most apparent short-coming didn’t win him any friends but it did push many people to work harder and produce great work. No question he was extremely demanding but when someone on his team did break through with something he approved he would praise them and proclaim their work as perfection.

In coaching you cannot be an asshole like this. In fact, that is our number one rule at MBSC, don’t be assholes. With this said, honest feedback should be given to clients and athletes as much as possible. I won’t blow smoke up my athletes asses but I also won’t tell them they completely suck. I give them constructive criticism that is non-offensive. When they do something good I let them know in a big way. I always give them twice as much positive feedback as negative. As a coach you owe it to those that you train to tell them they’re screwing up, don’t pat peoples egos but you absolutely should be praising their successes.

Don’t Chase The Money

Despite being one of the wealthiest men on the planet Steve Jobs did not do anything for the money. He came from middle class, lived homeless as a college drop out and never looked to maximize his profits at Apple or Pixar. In spite of this, he became a billionaire.  In 2010 his salary was 1$ according to the IRS.  Instead of maximizing profits he focused on quality customer oriented solutions and delivering the best possible product that he could.

If you always give chase, you'll eventually trip and fall.

As a trainer and coach this where your focus must be. There is not much money in this field anyways so coaching for the money is completely ass backwards. But those who do get into fitness “get rich quick” fail and fall to the wayside with time. If you focus on delivering a great service to your clients then everything takes care of itself.  Your business will grow and customers will begin to multiply. To quote Field Of Dreams: “If you build it, they will come.”

Produce Something Life-Changing

Jobs marketed every product Apple put out as revolutionary. He promised potential consumers that buying their product would be a life-changing experience and most of the time he was right. Apple products didn’t dissapoint and they changed the worlds of personal computers, the music industry, and cell phones forever. He sang the praises of his work and backed it up. He talked the talk and walked the walk.

As a coach preach your doctrine of health and training to everyone. Everybody is a potential customer and the majority of this world needs to a dose of what your selling. America has regressed in health and exercise and needs more coaches putting out quality training. Sell nutrition and exercise as life changing then deliver a product that matches the marketing.

Leave A Legacy

Growing up admiring companies like Hewlett-Packard that left behind a strong company identity and legacy, inspired Jobs to do the same thing at Apple. He wanted to create a business that would carry on his drive for perfection and passion for customer-friendly products long after he was gone. Much of this had been done at Apple almost organically by the type of people they hired and the vision that they all so widely shared. Knowing his time at Apple was growing short he made sure those successing him were the right people for the job and appointed the incumbent CEO.

We all know this isn't just any old apple.

In building a training business or any business for that matter, it is important to leave a legacy and build business that will be successful even when you are no longer a part of it. It is all about building a culture and hiring good people who share your principles in life and business. Mike Boyle and Bob Hanson are doing that at MBSC. We are successful here because of the culture they have built and the quality staff that they have developed. Someday I hope to do the same.

That is all. Enjoy this awesome video of Steve Jobs delivering Stanford’s commencement address in 2005. This is a must watch!

Thanks for reading.

Kevin