A Masters responsibility is not to find talent. You can’t find talent. Hence, the disciple’s responsibility is, first hand, to work on the fundamentals. Only then both can see where it led.
The ability to communicate ideas and translate them into the seamless performance of a difficult task is something a Master Coach is very notable at.
Discipline, professionalism, exactitude, technique, timing, inspiration by information, preparatory work, punctuality, exactitude, precision, strategy, conceptualization, power of communication and wisdom are the mould on which Masters are forged.
A Master is usually misunderstood as a Leader. Both categories, however, cannot blend in one single concept. A Leader is someone with a vision, someone informed, competent and versed, an eloquent commander. A Leader is a captain or a preacher, the one who has been blessed with the gift of speech. His experience can inspire us through sharing his knowledge in a motivating way.
Think about personalities like Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali, The Dalai Lama, Phil Jackson, Carl Sagan, Steve Jobs, Fidel Castro, Ché Guevara, Alexander The Great, Winston Churchill, Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela or Mahatma Gandhi. They almost impose a sense of obedience in others by respect and confidence.
“We the people” follow Leaders because of the authority of their words and the confidence and purpose of their actions. Leaders have the ability to mobilize great masses and influence them. They led people by beliefs and ideals to achieve common conquests and greater good. Leaders lead.
Now think about Yoda, Mr. Myagi or that schoolteacher or basketball coach you had when you were a kid. You’ll probably have an image of a reserved and mostly quiet person, right? An older figure, which have been teaching for the most part of his life. You can sense a steady, deep and unblinking gaze.
Masters listen far more than talk and avoid inspiring speeches. They have an extraordinary sensitivity toward the person they are teaching, offering small, targeted and highly specific adjustments. Each message is customized to each student’s personality, and their advice specifically meets each student’s needs.
The examination, diagnosis and prescription of a Master occur within seconds and resemble a doctor’s recipe for success. “Take this medicine and you’ll be fine.”
The Master shows the path and goal not only by words, gestures or tone. He becomes the action needed by the disciple and communicates it via targeted, precise, unmissable and accurate signals. There are no judgments or manifestation of personal preferences towards one disciple or the other, much less for different performances presented. The starting point for the days work is HERE and NOW. Always.
While a Leader has the ability to reach to a crowd, a Master works on one single subject at a time, with the objective of incrementing the growth of the disciple’s skills.
Both figures are desirable in one’s development as a human being and as a performer. But wouldn’t it be great to have our own personal Masters guiding us through the challenges of life, pushing us to the limit, unveiling opportunities and possibilities not recognizable at first sight?
A Master knows the world around the same way he knows himself. Sometimes he even shows you that he knows you better than yourself. Have you ever had that feeling or experience?
For more on the subject check “The Talent Code”, by Daniel Coyle
