Does Novak Djokovic need Goran Ivanisevic? Do you need a Life Coach?

As professional development has stretched to a lifetime, I see that few people actually see the need for continuous growth in the world of change, although business success is quite decoded through professional and scientific literature.

The communication space is so complicated that it is easier to reach a communication "comfortable" business position than to keep it. Professional careers today are long and complicated, so unlike Gen X, younger generations see positive opportunities in changing jobs and/or employers and do not have the proverbial "loyalty" to the workplace. Moreover, once people at the beginning of working life were employed in companies where they stayed until retirement, and today we are witnessing the fact that young people change jobs and employers in the short term.

Why are mentors important to us?

Accordingly, modern literature dealing with business success believes that the lack of a long-term vision of business development in the young workforce and frequent changes in the workplace create stress that can always be reduced with the help of "on the side" that is visible in the form of a coach or mentor.

This is especially evident in crisis or strategic situations. As I like to use examples from popular culture, I remember a time when Justin Bieber, a Canadian YouTube teen sensation, had a lot of trouble moving from a famous teen star to a "real" star.  Specifically, the audience watched him as a teen star who was stuck in some kind of space and time, and Michael Jackson and Macaulay Culkin took the same path.

Bieber managed to perform his transformation with a strange communication twist by ending up in detention for a couple of hours on a January evening in 2014. While the charges were lenient, as was the punishment itself, since then no one has had any more comments on Justin Bieber's "Manhood". Therefore, a few days after his detention, he had a real post jail photo session with tattoos and associated folklore.  It is precisely this communication turn that I consider one of the most successful communication products of an unsung communication coach who set things up in favor of a young artist who found himself in a seemingly hopeless situation. However, this milestone led him to be recognized today and continues to deliver his art.

It's the same thing today in the business space, the startup arena, in the jobs of power... People whose function is public are exposed to Scandalization, Cancel culture and similar phenomena. This is especially evident in those who have a longer career and occasionally lose direction. Business functions are not easy to maintain and progress to a new level within the company. One therefore needs access to someone who looks at things in a strategic way, and for their practical benefit.

People find it funny when they start talking about changes in routines and things like that, but as communication processes complicate the 21st century I don't see room for improvement without mentors and coaches.

As a fan of Goran Ivanisevic, I have always wondered in particular what he can offer Novak Djokovic. In addition, there was a lively debate whether Djokovic really needed Ivanisevic. But the statements Djokovic has about Ivanisevic are based on the fact that Djokovic views him first as a friend and only then as a coach. Such statements say exactly what is most important to Djokovic in this relationship – he needs a professional with the same experience, but who can understand him and relax the pressure from him. So, to some it seems like a small thing, but looking through a communication, psychological and business perspective it is a very powerful relationship.

When I started with the series of columns, it was my ambition to direct someone in a sensitive moment of his career to seek and find out from speech related to his own communication development for which today there are really a lot of examples and not every one works for everyone.

A man learns as long as he lives (not a platitudes)

There are situations in which people when they arrive at high office feel that they have been given life wisdom with the very function, but the reality is fundamentally different.  In fact, not that they did not get the wisdom of life, but their focus became narrowed, so they quickly get into trouble.  It's not a platitudes to learn all my life, on the contrary, I try to learn every day by listening to numerous podcasts on topics where I am not necessarily the expert. That is how I challenge myself.

We live in a time where a lot of things start and end with influencers. Just as we often can't understand Ivana Knoll's quantum leap in career after the World Cup 2022., it's so hard to understand both what the hell we're going to need a life coach for and who would pay for it.  However, the role of life coaching has simple postulates based on a better life of a trained person.  So, in this case, it is not only about communication skills, but also about a kind of business and life strategy in which the coach gives advice based on his own experience – dress to impress, dress to success.

Thinking about mentoring, business progress and success I was certainly inspired by the iconic Beatles. With all the popularity and youth they had, with the death of the manager they experienced a breakup. They did not understand how the world of business worked and could not continue to walk the path of success. This is another example that highlights the importance of mentoring in the business world.

The point, then, is that in your twenties you really have to have someone to follow. For practical progress, this is intertwined with the acquisition of the so-called .  soft skills that can bring you to the desired result faster and with less stress.

Domagoj Bebić is a associate professor of Strategic Communication and New Media Linkedin: Domagoj Bebić