Why High Performers Need Coaching
March 19, 2026
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Most people think coaching is about helping someone get better. And it is.
But what often gets missed is why coaching works in the first place. It’s not just because of accountability or encouragement. It’s because someone else can see what you cannot.
And without that, even the highest performer eventually plateaus.
Coaching matters. The quality of coaching you receive or provide can make all the difference in achieving a goal and ascending to your potential.
More managers use their coaching skills today than ever before. However, most managers default to typical management activities instead of coaching. Ray Smith said, “To create a high-performance team, we must replace typical management activities like supervising, checking, monitoring, and controlling with new behaviors like coaching and communication.”
Not only is Ray Smith correct, but he also exposes a drastic shift managers must make in today’s workplace to solve one of their more significant problems: employee development and performance.
For most people, “coaching” produces an image of a sports coach or someone from their younger days. And that’s not necessarily bad, but what we are talking about today isn’t a title, it’s an action.
Coaching is a verb. It’s the action taken to improve the current and future performance of others to achieve higher levels of excellence.
The first use of the term “coach” came from Oxford University slang for a tutor who “carried” a student through an exam. The idea was simple: to transport someone from where they are to where they want to be.
But what makes the act of coaching powerful is not always visible; it’s often invisible. Because great coaching helps you see what you cannot see on your own.
Great coaching helps you see what you cannot see on your own.
Whether the coaching comes from an external coach or a manager acting as a coach, it’s essential to remember that coaching is a results-driven pursuit. Great coaches help others achieve higher levels of excellence.
One of the biggest misconceptions in leadership is that coaching is for people who are struggling.
In reality, coaching becomes more valuable as performance increases. Because early in your career, feedback is everywhere. Managers are watching and your mistakes are obvious. The path forward is clearer.
But as you improve, something changes.
Fewer people challenge, correct, or are willing to tell you the truth. And over time, your perspective narrows without you realizing it.
That’s why even the best athletes in the world still have coaches. From Scottie Sheffler to Steph Curry. Not because they lack ability, but because they lack distance from themselves.
The better you get, the harder it is to see what’s holding you back.
At some point, every high performer runs into the same problem. What got you here starts to feel normal.
The habits that once drove results become automatic. And without realizing it, you stop questioning them. That’s when perspective matters most. The question is how to get it.
Your manager might not be as good as you at your job, and if I’m honest, that’s where a lot of high performers dismiss the value they can provide. But that misses the point. They don’t need to outperform you to help you improve.
The value is in what they can see that you can’t.
You can’t read the label when you’re inside the bottle. No matter how capable you are, there are habits, patterns, and blind spots that are invisible from your own vantage point.
The best golf coaches in the world aren’t better than the players they coach, but they can see a grip, a stance, or a subtle habit that the player can’t feel in the moment. That outside view is where the value is.
The same is true for you. Even if your manager isn’t perfect, they can still see something you can’t, and ignoring that because of ego is a mistake high performers make more often than they realize.
What’s changed recently, and what I’ve been thinking more about, is that you don’t have to wait for perspective the way you used to.
For most of history, you had to rely on another person, and even then, it was inconsistent. Today is different; you can use AI as a thought partner.
Ryan Serhant shared a story about losing a $50M listing because the seller used AI to broaden their perspective on the value of the property. The seller didn’t suddenly become more experienced; they simply saw the situation differently.
Now, I am not saying whether that was good or bad advice from AI, but I am saying you can take a situation you’re dealing with and prompt AI to broaden your perspective.
Literally copy this prompt to put into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini:
“I’m working on this situation and I want you to challenge my thinking, not agree with me.
Here’s how I currently see it: [Insert your situation or decision]
Perspective without action changes nothing, and this is where a lot of people fall short.
The best performers don’t just receive feedback, they adjust. They are willing to try something different, even if it feels uncomfortable, because they understand that insight only matters if it leads to a different behavior.
When you learn something that could take your performance to another level, try it quickly. Don’t sit on it or overanalyze it. Implement one thing and see what happens. Over time, that willingness to adjust becomes an advantage, because you are not just collecting perspective, you are doing something with it.
If I’m honest, most high performers don’t stall because they lose discipline. They stall because they keep trusting the same perspective that got them there.
And over time, that perspective becomes incomplete. The ones who keep growing aren’t always the most talented.
They’re the ones willing to be challenged, to see what they’re missing, and to adjust. Because at the highest levels, the difference isn’t effort.
It’s perspective.
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About the Author: John Eades is the CEO of LearnLoft and The Sales Infrastructure. He was named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices. John is also the author of Building the Best and the Optimistic Outlook.
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