413 - The Two Sides of Great Coaching: How to Lead Better and Be More Coachable
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Welcome to the Purple Patch Podcast! On this episode, IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon explains how Coaching is a partnership, not a service that magically solves performance challenges. The principles apply to athletes, business professionals, leaders, and managers alike. Purple Patch described its Tri-Squad program as combining customizable programming with coach support, email guidance, app resources, and on-demand consultations.
Effective coaching starts with clarity around standards, expectations, and goals. Coaches should simplify their message and prioritize the few changes most likely to improve performance. Small victories build confidence and demonstrate progress, while a focus on process behaviors gives individuals practical steps toward their goals. A coach also needs to be a consistent presence and understand the individual within the broader system.
Being coachable means taking ownership of the journey and defining a vision for development. It requires staying humble, hungry, and open to growth while actively contributing observations, questions, ideas, and feedback. Progress comes from applying lessons quickly rather than repeating conversations without changing behavior. Taking time to reflect on successes, failures, lessons, and next steps—and staying committed when development becomes uncomfortable—is essential to making the partnership work. If you have any questions, contact info@purplepatchfitness.com
Episode Timestamps
00-6:08 Episode Intro
6:15-end Meat & Potatoes
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Matt Dixon 0:00
I'm Matt Dixon, and welcome to the Purple Patch podcast. The mission of Purple Patch is to empower and educate every human being to reach their athletic potential. Through the lens of athletic potential, you reach your human potential. The purpose of this podcast is to help time-starved people everywhere integrate sport into life. And welcome to the Purple Patch Podcast. As ever, your host Matt Dixon, and today we're going to be talking about coaching. In fact, we're going to be talking about how to be coached, how to get the most out of your coaching relationship. Now, the reason we're doing this is over the course of the last few weeks, we have had a slew of folks join the Purple Patch program, all getting ready for off season. We also know that this is a typical time where people will be looking to commence a coaching relationship, start to align with a program of their choice and really seek to set up a great first impression of each other. Now, many people fall into the trap of thinking that coaching is about getting the best coach possible, and they're going to sprinkle pixie dust on the whole program, and as if by magic, woof, you're going to suddenly go faster and be stronger and have all of all of your challenges solved, but it's not quite as simple as that. Yes, there are some principles of great coaching that are important, but equally at the heart of this is the athlete. So, as we think about it today, I want to steer the conversation more on the coachability side because ultimately, coaching is a partnership. Now, while we're talking about coaching, we do have a few spots open on our one-to-one roster. But I also want to address an elephant in the room because one-to-one coaching just isn't accessible for every athlete out there. It's not even right for every athlete.
Matt Dixon 1:58
That's why we originally created our tri squad program. It was based on the idea that we can help you achieve success and sustain high performance by combining world-class, customisable programming with targeted coach support. We also opened up the experts in the room because when you're a part of Tri Squad, you don't have an individual one-to-one relationship, but you do have access to the entire Purple Patch coaching team. It is our most popular program because, well, it gives you the best of both worlds. You get a customisable program based on your goals, and of course, considering your schedule, your constraints, and everything else. But it's also combined with on-demand coaching for more focus, support, and strategy. We have athletes that are incredibly successful. We had multiple athletes at the recent Hawaii Ironman World Championships that qualified through this program and went on to have cracking days despite the wind, heat, and humidity of the day. Yes, squad includes unlimited email support, guidance from our Purple Patch app and real unlock for athletes is the ability to book ongoing, on-demand one-to-one coaching consultations. It really is bona fide as our topic today-a coaching program. And so, if you're interested in finding out more, particularly at this critical part of the year that we spent the last weeks talking about off season. Please click the link in the show notes, book a call. It's complimentary, and find out how it'll work for you. Otherwise, you can always email us directly info@purplepatchfitness.com. You can also head to squad.purplepatchfitness.com if you want to go and look directly at the page program and just register straight away. It is a perfect time to get going, and if you've got another race this year, finish it off, have a little break, a week or two, and then lock into the program. It's a good one. All right, so that's our discussion around Purple Patch a little bit, but let's get into the framing of today. This is really an episode that we've built for coaches to help you coach better. That's really important. Are you actually establishing the conditions to enable the coached athlete to be coachable? So I want you, if you're listening today as a coach, to listen through that lens. I am going to talk about a few principles of coaching to ground ourselves. So we're going to launch into that in a couple of moments.
Matt Dixon 4:25
But as a coach, I want you to really think about: okay, if these are the principles of how to be really coachable, am I helping my athletes that I'm leading actually bring these to the forefront? That's really key. Of course, for an athlete, this is a critical episode for you because it's really the playbook of how to be coached, how to get the most out of your coaching relationship. Whether you're a part of our squad program, our one-to-one program, or you're of course a part of another program, which is absolutely fine on this show. And as you listen. Today, one other note as well. I can dance a little bit into Wind Cycle here, our leadership program to help individuals and teams perform in the workplace as well. Every time we do a workshop at Wind Cycle, we actually include almost exactly this episode as a part of the workshop. Let's think about coaching because ultimately leaders are more successful if they shift from shift from a management mindset to one of coaching, getting the most out of someone, and helping them do that, and coachability. Because in every corporate environment and team, we all need to be coachable, even if we're leaders, to go on our journey to get the most out of ourselves, and so if you're listening today and you're not necessarily an athlete, this is a wonderful episode for you. You just want to listen to this through the lens of something that's really important to you, perhaps in the workplace, something else outside. That's okay, but that's what we're looking to do as we go through this. Okay, so anyone listening, business professional, leader, manager, whatever, this is going to be very, very helpful. Let's kick it off then, and we get to say nice and beautifully, we're going to talk about coachability, folks. It's all in the meat and potatoes. Yes, folks. Today's an episode about coaching, and when I think about coaching, at the heart of it is one single word: partnership. It really is an athlete or a business professional looking to gain expertise, wisdom, and perspective in partnership, going along a journey to help. If I was the athlete, me get the most out of myself. So there are two parts of this. The first is the principles of coaching. Whole episodes done on that already. A very common topic. What makes up great coaching? But the part that is discussed less is coachability. How, in our lens today, thinking about athletics, how can you get the most out of your coaching relationships by being really coachable?
Matt Dixon 7:06
What does that actually mean? And so that's where I want to shine the light. But to ground ourselves, I do want to, over the course of just a couple of minutes, think about my principles of coaching. Over the last 20 years, I've coached world-class athletes. I've coached top business professionals. I've helped people that couldn't walk up a flight of stairs go on to become a triathlete. It is a broad range. I tell you what, you learn a thing or two. And if I had to distill it down, there's lots of nuance in this. But if I had to distill down what makes great coaching, I can come up with six key principles. Number one, it's absolutely critical for us as coaches to lead with clarity. In other words, we can't hold people to account to behaviors and actions if they're not clear on what the standards and expectations are. I can't guide and have a compass, a lightning rod, to come back to when things stray off track. If we're not absolutely clear on what we're looking to achieve, so the first thing is lead with clarity. The second, which has always served me well, is do everything I can to simplify and prioritize. Now these are two points in one here, but I think it's worth digging into a little bit. When I talk about prioritization, if I coach an athlete, I can always see 25 things that they need to work on.
Matt Dixon 8:30
But I would all I always ask myself, what are the two or three that are most important now, that actually bubble up to the surface and will drive the performance needle to get us going in the right direction, so that's the prioritization: is filtering out and deciding as much what not to focus on as it is what to focus on. And I think the dispersment of focus and energy is one of the biggest performance killers across all teams. The second part of this is simplification, trying to distill the message and actions down to the most simple message that's memorable as I possibly can. I always say, try and coach like a fifth grader. It absolutely drives me nuts when I see coaches blinding athletes with science, trying to talk about mitochondrial density, proving that they know so much that it's unbelievable. That's not the mission here. If you want an athlete to bend their elbow, point at the elbow and say, "Bend here. It is really simple. The more simple, the more memorable that we can get things, the better the traction and execution is going to be. Third principle: build mini victories. Really valuable. We have big goals. We have ambitions. That's fantastic. We have a road mat to get there. But in the short term, in order to build trust, a little bit of confidence, athletes need to feel a sense of progression, a sense that they're. Effort that they're doing on a day-to-day basis is gaining some traction, and so as a coach, I try and set them up for success as much as I can. Not success every day, not for vacuous little victories that don't mean anything, but so that we can show them: yes, you can do hard things. Yes, you can be successful. Yes, we're making some gains. So building mini victories is a big part of this. The fourth is an absolutely critical component. Focus on the process, not the outcomes.
Matt Dixon 10:30
The professional athletes that I always coached, they were highly ambitious. Many of them wanted to win Ironman championships or even world championships, and that was great. But once that was established as an ultimate goal, we never talked about it again. Instead, we placed our focus and energy in the behaviors and actions that would lead to that goal, process, process, process, and that would extend into racing. We'd never be looking at the scoreboard. We'd never be worrying about splits of swim, bike, and run, we would be driving our energy into problem solving, pacing, managing your effort, your fueling, your hydration, all of the things that lead into the outcomes that we want. Process, not outcome. A critical lens to coach to for any level of athlete. The fifth, be the constant. As I talk about it, I learnt very early on that it wasn't my athlete's jobs to manage me, and what I mean by that is if I had standards and expectations, I had to apply them universally across every athlete on the team that I was coaching, and on top of it, never allowing my mood, my energy, my level of fatigue to influence how I showed up. I wanted to show up positive, consistent to every athlete, so that they knew that they were going to get. And from that, they started to build familiarity. And with familiarity, they start to build trust and understanding-a really key component. And the final thing, just to get the juices flowing today is yes. I was a systems coach. I had big non-negotiables across team, but ultimately, coaching is about understanding the human being. You can't get the most out of someone if you don't take the time to really know them as a human being, because we all have different fears, different expectations, different goals, different motivations, and so understanding the human within your system is the really key component. How that was expressed is yes, we had coaching principles, we had a methodology, but how Laura Siddle's program would look might be vastly different than Tim Reed. But they're both Iron Man champions. Laura was a big volume person that needed that confidence, that needed the work. Tim, no, he needed targeted work with lots of recovery. Sometimes doing 12 or 15 hours less of training every single week, and still ultimately becoming a world champion.
Matt Dixon 12:59
So Matt's coaching, just a little bit of a carrot, or for the coaches going through that. But as I promised today, the main thrust of today's conversation is about coachability, the other side of the coin. How do you maximize your coaching experience? Whether you're one to one, whether you're tri squad, whether you're thinking about it through a professional lens at work and broader life with your work with your manager or boss, and remember, coaches, leaders, this is important for you because we all have opportunities to lean into mentorship and coaching, even if you're the best in the world in your endeavor. And so, I've got six principles of coachability. The other side of the coin. Here we go. Number one, own your journey. This is absolutely critical. I would add to this: own your journey and have a vision of what you want to achieve. Let's strip it all away. Whenever I start coaching an athlete, I make it very, very clear. This isn't my journey. This is your journey, and your development is your responsibility. Strip it away. This isn't the crux of a great coaching partnership. It's your ownership. You must start with a vision of what you want to achieve. Sometimes, through a coaching discussion, we can mold it a little bit, but it has to come from you, and you should own that vision. And then your job is to surround yourself with trusted experts in your fields: a coach, potentially nutritionist, potentially physical therapist, potentially bike feeder. All of these different components, a bunch of experts and partners, including your teammate and friends, who can help you get the most out of yourself and your effort. But you own it. Don't expect them to sprinkle your dreams with pixie dust and make them happen for you. The only person.
Matt Dixon 15:00
Who is truly responsible for bringing your vision to life is you. That's the most important thing I'm going to say today. The second principle: stay humble, stay hungry. Look, ultimately, a part of this, the greatest athletes, the top business leaders that I had the opportunity to work with had a deep sense of humility. It doesn't matter how skilled you are, how confident you are. It's crucial as you're going on a journey of self-improvement to believe that there's another level, because guess what? There's always another level. Being coachable is about the endless pursuit of self-improvement. In other words, when you cross the finish line, win, lose, or draw, in many ways that represents the next start line. And yes, we should pause, we should celebrate, we should have a break, but we should get back to work. This really dovetails with that thing that you've heard of-a growth mindset, recognizing that you don't always have the answers. While all the pros that I ever coached had dreams of being world champions, ultimately, if you ask them what success for you, why are you doing this, it would always be the same thing. I want to become the best that I can become. I want to get the most out of myself. This meant that even if they won an Ironman World Championship, they would celebrate. But then they would get right back to work with the passion to do better X next time. With every professional athlete that I coach, many of them had dreams to become a world champion, but their focus wasn't about a single world championship. It wasn't about the title. That, of course, excited them. But at the heart of it, if you ask them, "Why are you doing this? What do you want out of it? they would always answer in pretty much the same way, I want to find out how good I can be. I want to become the best that I can possibly become, and what that meant is, if they did go and win an Ironman Championship, even if they won an Ironman World Championship, they would celebrate. They'd be darn happy, and then they'd get back to work for a passion to do even better next time. Principle number three: actively engage. This is something that I actually struggled with as an athlete. I was a puppy dog in many ways. Tell me what to do, coach. I'll work darn hard for you, and I'll just shut up and get the work doing, but ultimately being coachable is not doing what you're told.
Matt Dixon 17:46
Instead, it's coming to the table with observations, with reflections, with questions, even with ideas, proactively asking for feedback, providing feedback. It is about constant learning and shifting from a passive to an active mindset. What can I do to get better? How can I improve? This should always be at the top of your mind and on the tip of your tongue. A coach can only help you get the most out of yourself if you're contributing, if you're providing perspective. If you're telling the coach how you feel, what you're experiencing, because ultimately, when we strip it away, you're the one that's closest to the challenge. You're living it. You're feeling it. Your voice has weight. In this partnership, that word comes back. Now, as coaches, if you're listening to this as a coach. How do you nurture that? How do you invite it? Do you just get on to a coaching call and say, "How do you feel good? This is what you're doing next, or do you really dig in? Do you set the environment where you allow the athlete or the person you're leading to talk and to provide that perspective and feedback, because they are the ones that are living it. Number four, here's an important one: execute as soon as possible. What does that mean by that? Well, let me tell you a truth: the world favors speed and action, and so never hesitate to take what you've learned and make it real.
Matt Dixon 19:21
The faster that you can turn feedback and learning into visible action, the faster you're going to see improvement. I'm going to tell you the hardest people to coach are the ones that just don't mind having the same conversation every week, with absolutely no changes behavior, and I tell you what: coaches can talk about this to other coaches all the time. It's quite amazing. Every couple of weeks, you come back to the same conversation, and yet there isn't any visible change. Ultimately, there is no value in repeatedly talking about what you need to do if you're not. Actually, going to go and do it. Execute as soon as possible. Two more to go, folks. The fifth one, one of the most important ones, a part of the champion mindset. Pause and reflect. As much as we encourage people to turn education into action as quickly as they can. There is an important caveat and nuance here. You must also take time every week to pause and reflect as you grow. The most coachable people. I always think about this as being athletic IQ. The masters of athletic development are the ones that get out of the weeds. I always used to say, any dipshit can work hard, but it is the smart ones that ensure that their work is going in the right direction. In other words, removing themselves from the day-to-day grind, coming up a level to gain some perspective, pausing, and making sure that they course correct to ensure that every action and focus that they're doing is yielding an ROI on their effort. It's very safe to say that the very best professional athletes I ever coached were exceptional at reflection and staying the course. How do you reflect? You look back objectively. What went well? Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. Really good, because you start to feel like I've got progression. I'm starting to build those victories. I'm building a little bit of confidence. You build confidence. You build trust. So the positive is good, but it's not all easy streak. Also, where did I go wrong? What did I miss out on? What did I not execute as intended? Where did I actually fail? That's okay. That's a part of it. And then the final component is with those two pieces of clarity. What did I learn, and where do I need to apply my action now? And you re-engage in the process. Pause and reflect. And the final part of coachability, you've got a little bit of your part to play on this, because every single well-executed plan that is a great plan is going to face obstacles, is going to have setbacks, is going to get fricking hard, and you are going to get uncomfortable, and when that happens, you need to keep going. You need to stay committed. Add to this that your motivation with fatigue, with other life distractions, is going to go up and down.
Matt Dixon 22:34
You need to stay committed. It doesn't matter about getting pulled in a different direction. It needs to stay committed. You need to believe ultimately, and that's why you need to choose your coaching program carefully. You need to believe to be successful that your coach or leader has your best interest at heart, and also is equipped to offer helpful perspective on your strengths, your weaknesses, your patterns that you may not see, and how much more you have to give. But there is a truth: growth, development. It's not comfortable, and so get comfortable being uncomfortable. You've heard that perseverance means staying committed in the process, even when you're struggling, even when you're failing, even when your motivation starts to drop, that is key. You've read books about this grit, perseverance, toughness. It's a part of success. And so, my six principles of being coachable: own your journey, stay humble and hungry, actively engage in the partnership. Bring it. Don't just wait to be told what to do. Make sure that you execute as soon as possible on the feedback and lessons that you get. Consistently integrate opportunities for pause and reflection. And when it gets tough, double down. That's how you're successful. I'll see you next week. Take care, guys! Thanks so much for joining, and thank you for listening. I hope that you enjoyed the new format. You can never miss an episode by simply subscribing. Head to the Purple Patch channel of YouTube, and you will find it there, and you could subscribe. Of course, I'd like to ask you if you will subscribe. Also, share it with your friends, and it's really helpful if you leave a nice positive review in the comments. Now, any questions that you have, let me know. Feel free to add a comment, and I will try my best to respond and support you on your performance journey. And in fact, as we commence this video podcast experience, if you have any feedback at all, as mentioned earlier in the show, we would love your help in helping us to improve. Simply email us at info at purplepatchfitness. com or leave it in the comments of the show at the Purple Patch page, and we will get you dialed in. We'd love constructive feedback. We are in a growth mindset as we like. To call it, and so feel free to share with your friends. But as I said, let's build this together. Let's make it something special. It's really fun. We're really trying hard to make it a special experience, and we want to welcome you into the Purple Patch community. With that, I hope you have a great week. Stay healthy. Have fun. Keep smiling. Doing whatever you do. Take care.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
coaching, coachability, partnership, leadership, performance, clarity, prioritization, simplification, process, ownership, humility, engagement, execution, reflection, commitment