Written by Pam and Scott Lippitt
Professional athletes have coaches. In fact, the stars usually have a lot of them: head coach, position coach, strength coach, flexibility coach, sports psychologist and nutrition coach…not to mention, financial and spiritual coaches. OK, given recent history, most of the stars could also use one more… a life coach…someone who would help them get and keep their personal lives in order. In the sports world, owners, athletes, fans and managers know well the importance of having a coach — no matter how advanced you are in your game. It would be inconceivable for a serious athlete to go without the support of a coach. They know that regardless of their expertise in their craft, the ultimate value of having a coach by their side; someone skilled in helping them stay focused and providing feedback, support, perspective and accountability to take their game to the next level.
So here is the million dollar question for you and your business or career…how come you don’t have a coach? In today’s economy, more and more business owners and executives believe having a business coach is imperative. Some reports suggest that coaching is the 2nd fastest growth industry in the world, after the IT industry, and it is a substantial part of the $100 billion dollar training & development field. Coaching franchises, like Mars Venus Coaching, are contributing to that meteoric growth.
According to a study in 2008 by the American Management Association, “Coaching continues to gain in popularity. Among respondents who say their organizations don’t yet have coaching programs, a sizable proportion (37% in the North American sample and 56% in the international sample) said such programs will be implemented in the future.”
How does coaching differ from consulting? A consultant is a functional expert in a particular field or business process. This person is hired to share his/her “expertise” as it specifically pertains to your business (such as IT, marketing, compensation or accounting). A consultant has little vested in the outcome. You pay them for their expertise. You either follow their recommendations, and they either work or they don’t. Either way, the consultant gets paid. A business coach on the other hand, is an expert in business development; specifically trained to help you:
- Get and maintain a laser-focus on what really matters to the business. A business coach refuses to get caught-up in the weeds of the business.
- Recognize the barriers getting in the way of achieving your goals. A business coach refuses to “buy in” to the limiting thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that have stood in the way of reaching your highest level of success.
- Formulate a plan around achieving your priorities and overcoming the key barriers. A business coach helps you develop a plan, your own roadmap, to success.
- Be accountable for acting upon the plan, following the roadmap, and doing the things necessary to achieve outstanding results. A business coach will NOT accept inaction, procrastination or for that matter poor productivity from you…and will help you to not accept any of these from yourself.
- Create a motivating vision of the future. A business coach reminds you why you are focused on doing certain things…the rewards for keeping to the plan.
- Maintain perspective. A business coach looks at organizations, executive teams, employees and initiatives from the outside, with no attachment to the specifics of the situation. Personal attachments, office politics, egos, and company policies are all up for examination to the coach that is dedicated to helping you achieve your objectives.
The key things to remember are that:
A coach does not do the work for you. A coach empowers you to draw upon your own thinking, ideas and resources to achieve the desired results.
A coach does not tell you what to do. A coach conducts an inquiry made up of powerful, thought-provoking questions that assist clients in finding their own most creative and effective solutions.
A coach does not force you to change. A coach points out and gets you to recognize the limiting thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and patterns that stand in the way of your greatest success, and then helps you chart a new course.
So who hires a business coach? The business owner, executive or company that is committed to success and recognizes the need to go beyond the status quo and reach out for various resources to achieve it; that understands that he or she is responsible for their own success and is unwilling to settle for mediocrity; that has a desire to move to the next level of success and who sees the value of coaching to empower that commitment; and that believes their employees are an integral part of their overall success, and therefore wants to improve employee performance and internal relationships.
What to look for in a business coach:
- Someone who is trained specifically as a business/executive coach and as an expert in the field of business development, communications and human behavior.
- Someone who is good listener and great at asking pointed, thought-provoking questions.
- Someone with whom you have a good rapport.
- Someone you can trust.
- Someone who comes with a good recommendation or referral.
- Someone who is willing to provide you a complimentary coaching session in order to gauge whether he/she can help you improve your business’s results, management skills and leadership abilities.
A business/executive coach becomes your strongest ally, a partner in achievement, who can be the difference between success and failure; especially in today’s economy. Take the time to investigate whether hiring a business/executive coach is right for you.
Pam and Scott Lippitt are certified Business and Executive coaches and Master Franchisees for the state of Colorado for Mars Venus Coaching. They are also members of the Denver Coaching Federation www.denvercoach.com. They can be reached at pamlippitt@marsvenuscoaching.com or 303-284-6544. Visit their website at www. marsvenuscoachscottlippitt.com
