What is a coach, and why do I need one?
Move from overwhelmed to confident
Build your skills to solve any problem
Advance professionally without a boss
The best athletes don’t go it alone. Why should you?
This week, I’ve been watching the series “Breakpoint” on Netflix while audio-binging the book “Carrie Soto is Back”, by Taylor Jenkins Reid, both of which are about elite athletes competing in the “grand slams” of tennis. And one takeaway for me is, even the best athletes don’t go it alone. They have excellent coaches who help them hone their game. The coach makes sure the athlete knows their fundamentals cold. They run drills with the player to overcome their weak spots. They help the player craft a winning strategy for every single match.
So why do we think a business leader should be successful on their own?
If you’re a small business owner, entrepreneur, or team leader in a fast-growing company, you may find that the people in your work environment – your investors, your spouse, your boss, your employees, your suppliers – care a lot about results. But they might not necessarily care about your professional development. After all, with the future of the company at stake, who has the time to invest in your growth opportunities and interests?
So then, how can small business owners and entrepreneurs grow their skills as their businesses expand?
Get a coach! The coach’s role is to accelerate the client’s learning journey. A coach can help you…
Clarify what you’re trying to achieve
Objectively assess your strengths and weaknesses
Set clear intentions
Evaluate and reflect on an experience or situation
Surface and articulate your learnings
Bring out your best!
A coach believes you have the answers within you, and helps you unlock your potential through inquiry. This is unlike a consultant, who tells you what you need to do based on their own expertise. Coaching focuses on fostering new insights and building your internal capabilities.
Benefits of working with a coach
While you could try to ask yourself the same questions you think a coach would, there’s something magical about having a caring, unbiased “second party” dedicated solely to your development:
You push yourself to dream bigger, and commit to action
You see your actions, their impacts, and the context you operate in more clearly
You follow through more fully, converting dreams into reality
Although these effects may not be readily quantifiable in monetary terms, they can profoundly improve your efficacy at work and in life. A quality coaching experience can improve your relationships, communication, management skills, and confidence, enabling you to apply these skills to achieve any desired outcome. Seriously! I’ve seen the impact of coaching on sleep quality and dog-walking be just as powerful as it is to creating a brand strategy or improving process efficiency.
Different types of coaching
One of the reasons you might be confused about what exactly a coach can do for you is that there are many different types of coaching, each catering to a specific situation.
Executive coaching helps leaders drive transformational change, through self-awareness but also critique. This can be particularly useful when a leader is transitioning to a bigger role requiring strong presence and high-consequence decisions.
Leadership coaching helps people cultivate specific behaviors so they are more effective at leading teams. This could benefit anyone who wants to strengthen their ability to achieve better results through working with others.
Improvement coaching is aimed at making you better at achieving your own goals, by focusing on process. This is perhaps the most universally applicable form of coaching, because it can be applied to almost any aspect of work or life.
Other forms of business coaching can help you navigate setting up business, securing financing, or figuring out your sales channels.
These all have their place and will serve as an important source of development throughout your career. Life coaching, career coaching, and even counseling may also be applicable to your personal journey. Knowing which type of coaching you’re after will help you find a coach who is most useful to your current situation.
What will a coach do?
Regardless of which type of coaching you’ve chosen, a coach will typically:
Work with you to set a goal, intention, or challenge
Ask powerful questions
Actively listen
Help you craft an action plan
Hold you accountable
A good coach will work with you to understand your objectives, and design a program that best suits your needs. This involves a regular cadence of coaching conversations (such as daily or weekly), which can usually be conducted virtually.
Curious to know more? Subscribe below to be the first to read my upcoming blog posts including:
The impact of learning on performance
How to cultivate a learning mindset
How to get the most out of your coaching relationship