A couple of weeks ago, I went to a pickleball camp – one that I had no business attending. I had signed up on impulse, driven by frustration that my husband and I had not acted on our goal to play pickleball. So here I was, surrounded by other far more experienced and appropriately attired campers. Luckily, I was paired with a couple of other relative novices for a few days of intensive instruction. It's been quite some time since I tried to learn something completely new, and it turned out to be a wonderful experiential reminder of things I often share with clients. So, here are my lessons from pickleball camp.
Lesson #1: Positive Feedback Is Motivating
The camp format called for the coaches to rotate from court to court, working with a different group of campers every hour, so we had a chance to get lots of different perspectives and styles. But one thing was consistent, the coaches who used a healthy dose of positive feedback were our favorites. The positive reinforcement didn't delude us into thinking we were great at pickleball (we could see the players on the other courts), but it was a powerful motivator. The positive comments and encouragement not only felt good but also encouraged me to try harder.
Lesson #2: Feedback from Peers Is Extremely Valuable
During the heat of a game, it's impossible to have total awareness of how you are playing. Here's where fellow campers were invaluable to my learning and development. It didn't take us long to come together and begin to support and encourage each other's improvement. Even though we were sometimes competitors in a match, we all were there to become better at this sport. I would not have grown as much as I did without the generous feedback from the campers in my cohort.
Lesson #3: Learning Something New is Uncomfortable
It took a lot of effort not to feel overwhelmed and inadequate. I drew deep on the concept I learned in meditation of a “beginner's mind” – taking a fresh and open-minded view into the experience. I needed to boost myself up many times over the days –“courage over comfort” was a recurring mantra. Even when learning something I wanted to, it was hard and took a lot of mental energy.
What are the takeaways I'll bring back into my client interactions? First, amp up the positive feedback. Look for any opportunities to tell someone when they're doing a good job. It is motivating. Second, nurture a feedback culture on your team. The team will improve and succeed faster if peer-to-peer feedback is flowing. And, finally, give people some grace when they are learning something new or thrown into a novel experience. We face so many unprecedented situations and so much ambiguity that we're almost always in learning mode. Create time and space to process the discomfort.
And pickleball is a blast!