Think of success like a blockbuster movie: there may be a star on the poster, but there’s also a director, a script editor, and about a hundred people making sure the lights stay on. Our research shows the same is true for real-life achievements. The people who reach the top aren’t just skilled—they’re open to guidance, correction, and collaboration.
We analyzed data from our CTAA (Coachability & Trainability Attitude Assessment) by splitting participants into two groups: Goal-Achievers (those who achieve most of the objectives they set) and Non–Goal-Achievers (those who haven’t reached many goals).
Here’s what the stats show:
- Goal-achievers are more open to coaching (score of 78 vs 64 for Non goal-achievers, on a scale from 0 to 100).
- They are more willing to accept criticism (76 vs 63).
- They are more open to learning and self-improvement (88 vs 71).
- They are more willing to ask others for help (73 vs 61).
- They are more comfortable admitting mistakes, failures, or faults (73 vs 58).
- They are more driven and perseverant (91 vs 57).
Our research also indicates that among the goal-achievers:
- 89% actively seek out opportunities to learn new things (compared to 31% of non goal-achievers).
- 73% ask for help when they need it (vs 37%).
- 96% continuously look for ways to improve themselves (vs 50%).
- And when they fail, 90% of goal-achievers will keep trying until they succeed (vs 25% of non goal-achievers).
Non–goal achievers usually trip over two big hurdles: either they don’t believe they’ve got what it takes, or they treat asking for help like using cheat codes. So they make success ten times harder than it needs to be.
Coaching only works if you drop your ego. Whether you’re running sprints or running a company, progress requires letting people guide you, critique you, and sometimes tell you what you don’t want to hear.
That’s humility: not weakness, not surrender—just the guts to admit you’re not perfect and the smarts to know you can’t do it all alone.
Coaching works—when you’ve got the right people. CTAA (Coachability & Trainability Attitude Assessment) tells you who they are before hiring them. Ask for a free trial.