As I watched the Winter Olympics last month, I realized the Games have a lot to teach us about making healthcare better. These amazing athletes reminded me that greatness has as much to do with mindset as it does with talent. Behind every flawless routine and podium finish is a coach: watching closely, refining technique, making small adjustments the athlete may not even notice. And Olympic success depends on the willingness to be coached, corrected, and continually improved.

Professional athletes become exceptional not simply because of talent, but because of coaching. Every movement, every decision, every micro-adjustment is examined by someone who sees what they cannot see themselves. A coach notices the angle of a shoulder, the timing of a stride, the placement of a foot. They offer small, precise corrections—often unknown to the athlete in the moment—that compound over time into world-class performance. The remarkable part? Elite athletes not only accept this scrutiny, but they also seek it out. They hire personal coaches, performance specialists, nutritionists, and mental trainers. They understand that greatness is rarely accidental; it is refined.

I’ve had coaches, mentors, and teachers throughout my life. Some of them coached so skillfully and graciously that I didn’t even realize I was being shaped. My piano teacher was meticulous. She cared deeply about the position of my hands on the keyboard, the height and placement of the bench, and the alignment of my posture. It wasn’t just about playing the right notes—it was about how I played them. She corrected small habits before they became permanent limitations. And yes, she also coached me on something less glamorous but equally important: the time and discipline I invested in practice between lessons. Each of those details—posture, hand placement, preparation—was designed to elevate my ability.

Coaching in other settings, however, doesn’t always take root as naturally. In healthcare, for example, the word “validation” can sometimes trigger anxiety rather than growth. As a nurse, I have to admit that when someone told me they were going to validate my practice, I didn’t always perceive it as positive. Even without any indication that something had gone wrong, I wondered if I had missed something. Was there a complaint? A mistake? A problem I didn’t know about? I approached those moments defensively at times, bracing rather than welcoming.

Yet healthcare professionals operate in some of the most complex, high-stakes environments imaginable. Nurses, physicians, and technicians make hundreds of decisions in fast-paced, emotionally charged situations every day. In that context, coaching is not criticism—it is protection. It sharpens clinical judgment, reinforces best practice, and builds confidence. And because healthcare is constantly evolving, it requires continuous rewiring—regularly examining not only what we do, but how we do it, and asking whether there is a better way. Skills validations, mock codes, ACLS renewals, and simulations may feel uncomfortable, but they consistently reveal blind spots and strengthen muscle memory. We may not love standing in front of peers demonstrating compressions or medication protocols, but we always leave knowing something we didn’t before.

The key difference between athletics and healthcare isn’t the need for coaching—it’s often our mindset toward it. Athletes expect to be coached. In healthcare, we sometimes interpret coaching as remediation rather than refinement. But what if we reframed it? What if validation was viewed as an investment instead of an inspection? What if feedback was seen as partnership rather than policing?

Coaching, at its best, is an act of belief. It says, “You are capable of more, and I am committed to helping you get there.” When we shift from defensiveness to curiosity, from fear to growth, coaching becomes one of the most powerful tools we have—not just to improve performance, but to elevate outcomes for those we serve, ultimately our patients.

Lisa Reich will present on Caring Connections: Show You Care by How You Care at the Rewiring Healthcare: Foundation to Future Conference, to be held April 28-29, 2026, in Atlanta, Georgia. To learn more about the conference, to see the detailed agenda, and to register, please visit RewiringHealthcare.com.