Collins English dictionary says that ‘Kocs’ is a village in Hungary, where the first horse-drawn carriages were built during the 14th century.
It is therefore easy to see how we quickly adopted the habit of describing this kind of travel as ‘Kocs-ing.’ But in Hungarian pronunciation, things come out a bit differently to what we are used to in English, and the word sounded in speech like Koh-ching. Now of course, we simply refer to it as ‘coaching.’
Tutor on coach
How did we get from there to the other two Collins definitions of coaching: “A tutor who prepares students for examinations” and “A trainer or instructor?”
Bill Casselman’s blog ‘Words of the World’ (www.billcasselman.com) suggests that there may be two answers to that question, with the appeal of each answer depending on one’s position in the social strata of the time.
The first and more widely accepted story is that the tutor, who prepares students for classes, often travelled from village to village via horse-drawn carriage, and hence the vehicle and its occupant became known as the same thing.
The second, more exotic version suggests that the carriages themselves were owned by wealthy individuals who could afford to have a personal Kocs travel with them to read to them loud about the events of the day.
What is the connection of the above with improving your business, which after all is what these columns are supposed to be all about?
Business significance
I believe that many businesses in the 21st century could benefit strongly from using a Kocs (coach), to either train and instruct in the principles and practices that are known to help in getting better results or to prepare for examination in a highly competitive business world, where even the best performing firms can often be left feeling a bit like a student.
Award winners
Nowhere has that been more apparent than in the experiences of Unitec staff who have acted as business coaches to firms that have entered the Westpac Business Awards or the Indian Newslink Indian Business Awards in 2012 and 2013.
Though there has been an obvious element of training and instructing, it is probably more accurate to say that these coaches have focused on preparing the firms for examination by an expert panel of judges whose job is to benchmark each entrant firm against a national (and sometimes international) profile of what a highly successful firm looks like.
Shy of pride
There have been surprises aplenty, in terms of the obvious areas in which firms could radically improve their performance and profitability through simple and inexpensive changes in the way they operate; and in terms of the excellent things many Kiwi businesses are doing, but deliberately or involuntarily keeping silent.
Shouting success from the rooftops is not something that we do well!
So why not contact us and enquire about the processes you need to go through to have a business coach allocated to your business awards entry?
Unitec guides
You will find that our main value added in this process is the improved ability for you to understand the strengths and weaknesses of what you are doing, and therefore an improved ability to capitalise on strengths and eliminate weaknesses.
It is a great process that costs you nothing when delivered as parts of an Awards entry and you do not even need to have your own horse-drawn carriage!
Ken Simpson is Business Development Manager of Unitec Institute of Technology based in Auckland. Unitec is the Sponsor of the ‘Business Excellence in Innovation’ Category of the Indian Newslink Indian Business Awards 2013.
Free Workshops are held to enable potential entrants to understand ‘How to fill a winning entry’ with free coaching available at Unitec. Two workshops have thus far been held (on May 14 and June 11 at BNZ Partners in Auckland CBD and Highbrook. We welcome you to attend any or all of the following workshops.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013 at 6 pm at Unitec (Mt Albert Campus)
Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 6 pm at BNZ Partners Board Room, 373 Great North Road, Henderson, West Auckland
Wednesday, August 14, 2013 at 6 pm at Unitec (Mt Albert Campus)
To Register please email editor@indiannewslink.co.nz
