Is a Coach Right for You?
As I have been growing my new business, I have been asked by many people why a person would hire a coach, and what I bring to the table that would benefit my clients. These are great questions and ones worth responding to… so I am taking the liberty to respond in this article.
What is a Coach?
According the the Sherpa Executive Coaching Survey, “Executive coaching means regular meetings between a business leader and a trained facilitator, designed to produce positive changes in business behavior in a limited time frame.” Sherpa also indicates that business coaching is the new term for business consulting, whereby the Coach works to develop a clients knowledge and skill. Regardless of which type of coach you want, a coach will facilitate a positive change on a set schedule in a limited time period. A Life Coach focuses on your personal life and relationships, rather than on business activities and business behaviour.
Who Benefits from a Coach?
Anyone, or any team, who want to achieve more, implement changes, develop leadership skills or enhance their effectiveness will benefit from a Coach. Like a sports coach, a business or executive coach is trained to help you dig deep and accomplish more by making you accountable to yourself and your dreams. Most often as I work with my clients, they have the solution, I just facilitate the process to bring it to the forefront. If you are in a leadership position, you will benefit from Executive Coaching, even if you are at a lower level of the company’s organizational chart. When business operations, or business behaviour, are not working as intended, then its time to work with a Coach.
If you are a business owner or business executive, executive coaching is one method of developing up and coming talent, to address specific problems or to assist leaders during transition (ie: job changes, promotions, relocation etc.).
What Value to you Gain from Coaching?
“Coaching helps people in three ways:
First, a coach allows leaders to reflect about their decisions, and about themselves.
Second, people usually avoid difficult truths. Coaching brings reality front and centre.
Third, people don’t know how to change. A coach can guide you to find replacements for behavior that’s not working.” (Sherpa Coaching)
Are all Coaches the Same?
No. A Coach who has taken a certified coaching program has developed the coaching skills needed coach effectively. A good Coach will also bring their business experience to the table. Some people like to have a Coach with experience in their field. My experience as a person being coached and as the Coach, is that a Coach with a different background can be a definite asset as they bring new perspectives. The approach of each Coach is also different. It is important to talk to your coach prior to hiring them to determine if their approach will work for you. I am a Certified Executive and Business Coach, as well as a Master Certified Coach Trainer with over 20 years business and professional experience in a variety of fields. My many fabulous successes and the planned and unplanned changes in my business focus add depth to what I offer.
Can your Results be Measured?
Yes — but you have to do the homework, and implement the action plan between each coaching session. Most of the work is done outside of your time spent with your Coach. A Coach should help you create a program that guides you from point A to point B and establishes key milestones that enable you to measure your progress. The degree of measureability and accountability will vary from Coach to Coach.
When I work with clients, I ensure you gain clarity, set goals and achieve results that we can measure throughout our time together. The system we follow will ensure that you move forward and results are sustainable, scalable so you can grow and dream big! My SPARK framework underpins everything we do together.
A Coach brings significant value that goes beyond the balance sheet. Clarity, improved strategy, improved skills, productivity improvements, better communication subsequently will lead to a better bottom line. Coaching can also help to retain skilled talent. My clients generally experience significant increase in revenues within a 6 month assignment — well beyond what they have paid out.
Contact me today if you want to move forward, create systems that will leverage your time and efforts, or to explore if coaching is right for you! My group coaching program is an affordable option if you are new to coaching.
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