Want to get great at something? Get a coach

I explored the concept of coaching, from the history of American collegiate sports to the world’s elite musical geniuses, from a classroom in Virginia to my own operating room in Boston. Along the way, I learned a number of surprising, amazing, and ultimately useful things about how we get better at what we do.

While much more research has been added in the past ten years, this summary of the scientific foundations of the relationship between coaching and reaching the peak of expertise remains a fantastic overview and starting point. Make sure you have some serious time on your hands—the article isn’t long, but you’ll be googling fascinating historical examples for hours!

Max Perkins was a quiet, unassuming man, but he was also one of the most famous and revolutionary literary editors ever. He worked for the notoriously stodgy publishing house Charles Scribner’s Sons during the first half of the twentieth century, ushering in a new era in American literature by shepherding authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Tom Wolfe into print. This profile by Malcolm Cowley gives us a glimpse into what made Perkins such an amazing editor and coach.

After two decades of studying coaching in the classroom, Jim Knight is an expert. His book The Impact Cycle offers a nuts-and-bolts approach to educational coaching, lessons that can be extracted and applied to other professional fields.