Why do I need a business coach you ask? The easy answer might be – ‘because everyone needs a business coach’. But, of course, even though that might be true, it doesn’t answer our question. We need to find an answer as to how a business coach will improve our lives – in business and, by extension, our personal lives too.
A business coach supports and guides business owners in running their business. They do this by helping them to clarify the vision of their business and to understand how it fits in with their personal goals. Business coaching is a process – one that takes a business from where it is now to where the business owner wants it to be.
Coaching vs Mentoring
It’s easy to confuse the two terms, Coaching and Mentoring. They have many parallels and similarities. Both require many years of experience and considerable skill and expertise. Generally speaking, I see coaching is more performance-driven – designed to improve your on-the-job performance. Mentoring, on the other hand, is more of a personal development process, where we look at, not only your current job function but a broader view. We look more holistically at their overall career development.
Hiring a business coach – a sign of weakness?
Arguably, one of the biggest misconceptions is to think of a business coach or mentor as someone to call in when times are hard – when the business or the individual is struggling. Many business people are coy about the fact that they’re hiring a coach. They feel it’s an admission of weakness or failure. This is so far from the truth. Any proactive business owner or executive sees value in business coaching and mentoring, whatever the weather. Wherever there are goals to re-set, processes to enhance, or approaches to improve, a business coach will be there to help.
Introducing clarity of thought
A business coach or mentor will begin by identifying your issues or what marketers call ‘pain-points’. They work with you to clarify where you want to take your business – or define the goals of your business. A coach will help you to maintain clarity of thought – helping you to untangle unhelpful thought processes, such as distinguishing between genuine objectives and everyday tasks.
The next step is to draw up a plan or strategy to achieve those goals. Priorities need to be set in order to be clear about what’s needed to progress the business towards those goals.
Business coaches and accountability
In order to be successful, business coaching sessions take place regularly – either weekly or monthly – in order to keep progress on track and to keep you accountable for the commitments agreed to at the previous session.
This concept of accountability is a critical part of the coaching process. A business coach isn’t a consultant. They won’t do the work for you. That’s not their job. Their role is to keep you focused on your end goal and remind you why it is important. They’ll motivate you to keep your commitments. They’ll act as a sounding board, and when needed, they’ll hold a mirror in front of you, highlighting your business and personal attributes … and your blemishes.
Keeping track of progress
Coaches will sometimes use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to make the journey towards those goals transparent. Your coach is there to keep track and measure progress – the kind of process that, if you’re working alone, you might avoid doing. By retaining transparency, you are forced to be accountable for what you achieve and what you fail to achieve.
Take the first step
So what do you think? What could a business coach do for you and your business?
Let’s discover how my business coaching and mentoring skills can help you get to where you deserve to be.
Schedule your free 30 minute consultation today!
I’d love to hear from you.
