When a coach says, “I had him do this for two weeks to see if he has the grit and willingness to adhere to what it takes,” I do not hear coaching.
I hear selection.
The coach is introducing an artificial hardship, watching who survives it, and then calling the survivors disciplined. That is essentially natural selection inside a client roster.
Over time, of course the method appears to work. The people who tolerate the style stay. The people who do not leave. Survivorship bias gets mistaken for evidence that the coaching built grit.
Challenge should serve the client
A good coach can absolutely challenge a client. But the challenge should serve the client’s goal, not the coach’s need to test their character.
If someone cannot adhere to an intervention, the useful questions are:
- What got in the way?
- Was the intervention appropriate?
- Was the goal actually theirs?
- Was the difficulty necessary?
- What can we learn and adjust?
Coaching is not about finding people tough enough to survive your system. It is about helping people build a system they can succeed in.