I did not know it until I saw it while trying to provide feedback to a friend for his improvement.
In many self-improvement books, I absorbed that being coachable was a crucial skill. A skill that would allow the person receiving the feedback to shorten their professional development.
I always wondered if I was doing a good job at being coachable. While in my apprenticeship as a graduate student, I had all the intentions to get the most out of it.
Just this afternoon I interacted with a coachable person. The characteristics I saw in him were simple, yet probably overlooked.
- He was attentive to what I was saying and absorbed my comments before venturing his opinion.
- He was ok to continue the conversation and to receive future feedback about improvements.
In a nutshell, being able to listen and receive feedback while trusting that the comments came from a source of good intention and caring. In other words, not taking feedback as a personal attack.
I saw it once. Now, I will try to reciprocate his behavior when it is my turn to learn from others.