The Coach's Irony

It never ceased
To amaze him
The ease of working
With people
Who are open
To coaching,
Compared to the futility
Of working
With those who aren’t.
He had to battle
The resisters
Tooth and nail
For every ounce
Of progress made.
It was always
A contest of wills
And it wore him out,
But that was how
Most people
Seem to be in life.
The truly coachable ones
Were few
And far between.
Their apparent
Lack of pretense
Was always
A welcome relief.
They possessed
A simple openness
To explore what is so,
And the strength
To be vulnerable.
Maybe that is the only
Real difference
Between the two.
The others lacked
The trust and confidence
Needed to
Let their guards down.
It’s hard to reach
Those who have
Their defenses up
As if their lives
Are under siege.
The irony was that
Even with
All these observations
And his profound
Understanding of the value
Of coaching,
The coach was not
Coachable himself.
He was one of
The defensive ones.