In this blog are answers to many common questions about business coaching. We hope that after reading it, you will know whether it’s right for you and your business. You may be wondering about what a business coach does, what makes one different from books, writing programs, mentors, and consultants, whether certification makes a difference (spoiler: it does), and what the paybacks of coaching are.
What does a Business Coach even do?
In one sentence, a business coach helps you achieve your goals by asking you revelatory questions and by holding you accountable. He/she can address a variety of topics such as reinventing yourself, leadership, EQ, relationship management and much more. You meet for at least 12 sessions to talk through your goals, your plans for action, and personal issues that hold you back. It’s also useful to compare a business coach to an athletic coach.
Athletic coaches are pushers – they push you forward even when you do not feel like it. Business coaches are not pushy. They co-create strategies, habits, and tools. They get you to identify obstacles in your way and bring insight from their coaching experiences. They also instill self-awareness by revealing what you truly want and why. They bring clarity to your true goals and thus help you achieve them by asking you questions and strategizing with you.
There are similarities too, of course. A good coach, both in athletics and business, is someone who you can trust and rely on, someone who will hold you accountable and keep you on track, someone who will indicate if it is time to move on to different goals, and someone who works hard to develop a clients’ potential. Every Olympian has a coach because each Olympian cannot do it by themselves. The same goes for high achievers.
What about coaching alternatives like books or writing programs?
Reading books is merely an internal experience. Internal experiences are great if you have lots of time and are willing to spend it discovering through trial and error whether the book’s knowledge applies to you. But a personal internal journey may not be quick enough for you if you want to achieve your goals as soon as possible. Lastly, writing programs are limited by your own knowledge and memory.
Coaching is both internal and external. It’s an exchange between two minds that drives you forward. Books are innate and need to be processed: you must see whether it applies to you, if it’s helpful, what you missed in it, etc. Coaches, however, are specific to you and your story. They are completely dedicated to your growth and thus offer solutions that apply only to you, rather than something generic. A combination of both is most helpful. In fact, coaches usually recommend books and then debrief with you.
Writing programs are similar. You should do them (if you manage to find the time)! But they don’t expand or challenge you, nor do they push you further. Writing programs are limited by your own knowledge and your culture. If you’re going to do writing programs, you alone will hold yourself accountable. This is unreliable because you are unreliable. You can’t set yourself to achieve things like a clock. Writing programs may reveal what you want and why and how to get them, if you finish them, but there is no framework for accountability. Procrastination and unawareness will not keep you personally accountable.
But a coach does! A coach shows you your different layers of depth, reveal blind spots that you were unaware of. A coach will push you further because of this awareness of your different levels of depth and will also concretely hold you accountable. The coach will catch those levels and push them through action. That’s another thing! Just the process of telling someone about your progress towards a goal and your setbacks in achieving them will not let you be distracted by the rush of day to day life and will keep you on track to achieving those goals. And that’s why you can consider a business coach an accountability coach.
Lastly, a business coach sees you as a whole person, rather than just as someone with a specific problem. Seminars are generic solutions to generic people and seem more like a motivational speech than the true construction of positive habits.
A psychologist is pricier and does not have business goals as their main problem to fix. They focus instead on the individual and his own past personal issues.
And while friends may try to help you, they may end up comforting you instead of challenging you. Nor can they be impartial, and they are not trained as coaches, even though they may try their best. They’re there to be your friend, but that is not the same thing as pushing you forward and keeping you on track.
Business coaches usually end up improving life in all facets: financial, health and wellness, relationships, family, personal growth, personal environment, work-life balance and more. It’s future directed, and if the past is brought up, it is done to help you better understand your true motivations for future goals. The one on one business coaching relationship makes a big difference.
What difference does a Certified Coach make?
A big difference! Certified Coaches have learned techniques to quickly drill down to issues by, for example, asking the right questions and considering all parts of your life. Non-certified coaches may just be passing themselves as coaches because they were successful in some of their business experiences, and then go on to attribute their experience to other people.
A good certified coach will help you to grow from within and will address issues from a holistic perspective. This usually means opening up to your coach about personal issues which affect your business success, should you choose to do so. Whether you wish to discuss such issues or not, certified coaches know how to help you to figure out your problems and discuss strategies for solving them.
What proof do you have that Coaching works?
In our experience, there is always a high return on investment for coaching. However, we understand that coaching can be a risky investment for many businesses and people. Let’s illustrate how it payed off for one company with the following story.
One commercial real estate corporation who worked with our coach Patrick did the following to mitigate risk. They sent him one Realtor who had trouble achieving his benchmarks for marketing goals. But after Patrick, the Realtor surpassed his goals every year afterwards, and went on to set higher goals as a result. The corporation sent more Realtors, even experienced ones, to Patrick as a result of this, and he helped all of them surpass their former goals.
Thus, one thing that you can do for your business if you are unsure about whether business coaching is right for it is to try out coaching on one employee or yourself, and then invest in more if you find it worthwhile. Ask for an interview to see if there is a fit for your needs.
You can also check out our testimonials to see what other people’s experiences were like.
Is a business coach the right person for getting my business on track?
Perhaps. There are alternatives to coaching, like consulting and mentorship, which may be better for your needs. Here’s how they are different.
Consultants are more commanding, in the sense that they tell you what to do and direct you away from pitfalls. If you want to find someone with talent and skill who can solve pressing issues in your business, then a consultant would be a great fit. Consultants have the knowledge and tools to help a company with a specific, particular problem.
Mentors are like consultants except that they specialize in a certain field and are willing to impart knowledge and help over a longer time period. Mentors give people advice.
Coaches are different. They are broad and holistic. Instead of being focused narrowly on a business’ success, coaches figure out root problems and options open to solving them. They are great listeners, they ask the right questions, and they facilitate introspection. If you seek evolution, brainstorming, a reflection on your true desires, and the co-creation of goals, then a coach is the right person for you.
You may be in a specific niche and are looking for a specific person to help you out with it. Some people look for small business coaches while others seek spiritual entrepreneur coaches, and some others may just be looking for corporate coaching. The best way to figure out whether a coach is right for you is to look out for the tools a coach is trained in (more about this below) and who the coach has helped in the past.
How do you know whether you have picked the right business coach?
There are two big things that you should look out for.
First is the cumulative knowledge, tools and specialties that the coach has at hand. What tools does the coach have, and is that what your business needs? For example, if your employees are stressed out and are unable to productively discuss their problems with each other, then you should look for a business coach trained in Emotional Intelligence, stress management, communication skills and relationship management. If you are looking for a solution to a specific business strategy problem such as marketing, PR, or financial, then look for someone whose skill set matches that.
Second is the actual connection between yourself and the coach. When you speak to the business coach, do you feel comfortable with the person? Does the coach seem to understand your needs? For a first evaluation, pay attention to the chemistry.
The last thing you can do, of course, is to ask the business coach before you buy their services whether they are the best way to solve the problems you have. We at Peak Potential International, will not recommend our services to you if we do not think we are the best fit for your needs. Feel free to call us or send us an email to chat some more!
Written by: Eugene J. Fernandes. This blog was based on an interview with Patrick Rhein.