How a Coach Can Help Move Your Business Along the Right Path
Posted on June 21, 2014 by Janice McHenry, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.
A coach is your trusted advisor, focused on your goals and the unique action plan that will help you move your business or nonprofit forward into the
As the owner of a small- or medium-size business or director of a nonprofit organization, your day is consumed by the endless tasks of keeping your operation running smoothly. How often are you able to step back and reflect on your accomplishments – and how you would like to improve your organization? Probably not as often as you’d like, and certainly not as often as you need to!
The coach accrediting body (International Coach Federation) defines coaching as a thought-provoking, creative process that inspires you to maximize your potential, as you improve your outlook on work and life. [coachfederation.org]
That’s pretty abstract, though, so here’s a story to show how coaching works. When I was starting my business, I needed to find clients and I didn’t know how to start. Fortunately, I had a coach who kept asking me questions about what I didn’t know – and what I was afraid of knowing. My coach helped me visualize my dilemma as a really big rock in the road. I could see clients waiting for me beyond the rock, but I believed I couldn’t climb over it or go around. In just one coaching session, I realized it was in my power to make the rock smaller! When this new insight, I was able to set aside my fears, and I developed steps to get to those new clients.
Are you at a turning point? Who can you talk to who will support you completely? A coach can help you see where you’d like to end up and guide your steps to get you there.
• A coach is your trusted advisor. A coach is not a mentor giving practical advice, or a therapist, or your boss. Whatever description your coach uses (business coach, leadership coach, executive coach, wellness coach), your coach’s only goal is to help you.
• As you share your hopes and dreams, your coach will ask you to describe what is fundamentally important to you. How does this show up every day in what you do? What core values drive your actions: serving others, exploring how technology can improve our life, building a business to secure your family’s future? What else? How does this dream fulfill your unique contribution?
• Every relationship is unique, and you can trust coach to have only your interests at heart. The coach’s code of ethics guarantees confidentiality – your ideas and concerns stay just between you two.
• You and your coach will develop your unique action plan. A coach is curious about your future: What do you want to achieve, and how will you do it?
Finally, coaching is a proven return on investment. Studies have shown that working with a coach just one to two hours a month leads to increased productivity, more positive employees, and better time management. [coachfederation.org]
What one thing could you do that would totally transform your business?
What small step can you take today to make it happen?
[Originally published May 21, 2014, on the Arlington, VA, Chamber of Commerce blog [arlingtonchamber.org]
