And the winner of Strictly Come Dancing is …
Image: BBC/Guy Levy
I don’t need a spoiler alert to say that Chris McCausland won Strictly Conme Dancing this year. I wondered how, as a Coach, our conversations would have gone if he had signed up to my Coaching program when he had been asked to appear on the show.
Unlike a Sports coach, an Executive coach does not teach a specific skill or offer advice. I certainly couldn’t have given him any dancing tips. But I would have listened to him, asking questions to help him discover whether this is the right thing for him to do, and how it fits with the rest of his life. I think our conversations might have been something like this!
· Why are you considering doing Strictly?
· What are your motivations and what do you see yourself getting from it?
· How will you learn to overcome the challenges?
· How will you receive feedback on your progress?
· How will you to understand your growth during the process and build confidence in your abilities?
· How will you create a plan to balance your Comedy career with Dancing?
· How can you use your existing strengths as a performer to enhance your performance as a dancer?
It is pretty clear to me that Chris did not miss out by bypassing my coaching offer. He has answered all these questions and more during his Strictly ‘Journey’!
Despite his lack of sight, he had a vision to stretch and challenge himself, to do something way outside his comfort zone. He wanted to demonstrate, especially to people who see blindness as a tragedy rather than an obstacle to overcome, that being blind is not a barrier to success. He wanted his achievements to challenge public perception of disability and to show that blind people can achieve greatness by daring greatly.
He received feedback in profusion; from the Judges (especially Craig Revell-Horwood), his fellow competitors who warmly embraced his ultimate success, and from the public who he most wanted to influence; we voted for him every week and made him our winner.
We are used to people who win things saying that ‘you can do anything if you commit to it’. This is clearly untrue. I couldn’t learn to dance a Tango if my life depended on it. But Chris was more nuanced than that; he stated that
With the right structures and support in place, anyone can achieve their potential
Determination and committment are important, but Structures and Support are vital for success. In Dianne Buswell, Chris had a Coach who found a way to teach him by demonstrating posture, frame, positions, spatial orientation, and the difference between a heel and a toe lead. His technique improved each week even though he never saw himself dance - indeed he has never seen anyone dance ballroom or latin. He became a performer, translating his stand-up skills to the dance floor. He learned to stand taller.
Strictly has not been put off by his disability – indeed they have challenged perceptions many times before. Johnny Peacock was the first contestant with an amputation, Nicola Adams and Katya Jones were the first same sex couple, and Rose Ayling-Ellis showed that it was possible to dance beautifully despite being unable to hear the music. One of the great Strictly moments for me was a dance in celebration of love by professionals Nikita and Vito. It was absolutely magical, and and you can watch it here. It seems amazing now that the public once objected to seeing two men dancing together.
Structures for success include having people around you with a willingness to ignore the accepted way of doing things, teachers who see potential not limitations, and coaches who encourage and support unconditionally. Crucially it requires you to challenge yourself and the situation you find yourself in.
We need coaches like Dianne, and despite recent allegations of bullying we still need programmes like Strictly, and we need people in all walks of life to help us understand our potential, and support us to achieve it.
With the right structure and support in place ― anything is possible, and anyone can achieve their potential.
I cannot teach you how to dance, but if you think I might be able to help you to work out your own future career path, please use the link here to book a free discovery call. I will link you to someone else if I am not the right person for you.
Finally I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2025.