I almost drove into the sugarcane plantation

It was a hot afternoon during the Pearl of Africa Uganda motor rally (PEARL) 2019. Being one of the most prestigious events on the African Rally Championship (ARC) motorsport calendar, the PEARL motor rally had attracted 52 crews from across the continent. Among the two-wheel-drive (2wd) crews was ours of Timothy Gawaya/Francis Wamala of the Stinger Racing Team. The 2-day event was taking place in the sugar plantations of the Kayunga district.

The previous day, we had tied in the first position with another crew of Hajj Ismail Waliggo/Bukenya at the Busiika motorsport arena in the super special stage. Our crew was driving a 1500cc Toyota Starlet with 109 breaking horsepower  BHP) and we were competing against bigger engines with almost 200 BHP.

That time is when I discovered that anyone in the fast lane of life, career, sports, and business needs a coach.

The coach is the co-driver who sits on the other side of the passenger seat, busy calling out the pace notes (business ideas), putting their life and reputation at risk if you the (business owner) ever make a misjudgment.

The motorsport body (FIA) made it a rule for any car to be run by 2 individuals, the driver and co-driver/navigator. In motorsport, we race against time and the fastest crew that makes it to the finish line will get the best accolade. That is if they have minimal penalties. In fast-paced competition, the driver finds themselves in a situation where all they can do is steer the car, with no sense of direction without the codriver who has granular parts of the road hazards and corners.

I had just taken a medium left corner and impressed the fans with a nice pendulum at the viewing point. The next reading was 200 fast left, 100 into the Flying Finish (FF). I tried to do some late-breaking coupled with trail braking. The maneuver went wrong and in the blink of an eye, we were headed right into the Metha sugarcane plantation. Yours truly had no idea of what next to do till Francis shouted ‘do not let go of the gas peddle’. I obliged and we came back on track. Luckily we won the event in the 2WD category and emerged 8th overall.

Had it not to be the co-driver’s fast intervention, we had lost the rally 100 meters to the finish line.

Mr. Kofi, a renowned business coach in Rwanda says;

A Coach is an active participant in your practice. Actually, the modern concept of coaching evades your privacy, sometimes.

What are the functions of a business coach?

• Keep the business owner in check. Part of the Coach’s primary responsibilities is to assist the business owner in the alignment of the business overall goals.
• Accountability. In conjunction with the board, the business coach keeps the business owner accountable in regard to day to day business decisions. The business owner should be flexible enough to allow the coach to keep close tabs with the circumstances, events, and opportunities of the business.
• Monitor the business cashflow and advise the business owner accordingly 

In conclusion, every business owner needs a coach to help them get directly in line with their overall business strategy.