What is a business coach?
A coach is often an entrepreneur who has developed an exceptional portfolio of their own and has the desire to pass their knowledge on to others. They can boost performance, help with strategy and accelerate change. The world of business is transformative, and successful business owners don’t just create success for themselves. They generate income and gainful employment for their team members, while providing a valuable service or product to their community and society as a whole.
As you know, being a great leader is no small feat. Even the very best business heads have called in the services of coaches to help them progress to the next level. Take Eric Schmidt, the now-retired CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011, who played a key role in propelling the search engine to the stratospheric status it holds today.
Schmidt met with a business coach almost every day for 15 years, despite already being a billionaire by 2004. If a man this successful and effective is a proponent for coaching, it’s definitely something small business owners should consider. Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Steve Bennett are just a few more behemoth business people who passionately advocate for the virtues of coaching.
What are the different types of business coaching?
Before diving in and choosing a coach, it’s a good idea to consider the different types of in-person and online business coaches to find one who’s an ideal fit. While you can opt for a broad business coach, there are also more specific options available depending onyour strengths and organizational requirements.
The main types of coaching include:
Executive coaching
The aim of an executive coach is to help leaders generate business growth. This usually involves finding ways of being more hands-off so you can focus on the bigger picture. Critical thinking, personal productivity and effective communication are often focal points of this style.
Leadership coaching
The biggest challenge for a newly appointed executive is often moving away from people and project management and on to setting organizational priorities and directing strategy. Leadership coaches help business heads learn how to leave people leadership to managers and develop long-term plans for success. Many of the best coaches become close, trusted friends of their clients, which encourages openness and honesty.
Performance coaching
A performance coach is laser focused on mindset and helping leaders understand the importance of continual improvement. In opposition to the long-term goals of the above styles, performance coaching is more immediate and focused on achieving short- to medium-term objectives.
Skills coaching
Skills coaches help leaders learn about their own strengths, weaknesses and moving past plateaus. Being able to quickly and effectively hone new skills is a core requirement for all senior leaders, and coaching can help you learn faster with fewer self-limiting beliefs.
Benefits of small business coaching
Every leader has insecurities and weaknesses. A key aspect of succeeding is being self-aware and knowing how to offset knowledge gaps as opposed to pretending they don’t exist. A coach can help you become more accepting of these traits in view of mitigating them and using strategy to your advantage.
Let’s look at more ways hiring a business coach can benefit you and your organization.
Refresh your mindset
Mindset is something of a buzzword these days, but that doesn’t mean you should discount it. In fact, cultivating a positive, growth-oriented mindset is one of the best things a leader can do. Your mindset includes the notions, methods and assumptions that shape your thoughts and behavior.
Contrary to popular belief, mindset is dynamic and can be changed through commitment to improving your habits. A coach can help you restructure your mindset to eliminate limiting beliefs and be more effective in your role.
Become more accountable
Being a business operator is overwhelming. Your role involves spinning multiple plates and maintaining a consistently approachable demeanor, which not everyone is cut out for. And when you’re under immense pressure, it’s easy to bury your head in the sand about the challenges you face.
A coach can help you organize your goals and break down what needs to be done in actionable chunks. As the head of a company, you typically hold everyone accountable but have to take full responsibility for yourself. Small business coaching provides you with the support you offer to your staff.
Find more time for the bigger picture
The majority of excellent leaders are extremely hard workers who are skilled across multiple aspects of their business. Letting go of the reins of daily operations to focus on the bigger picture is a major struggle for many.
Coaching helps you develop the trust in your teams and the skills required for delegating so you can move away from the daily grind and focus pivot to growth.
Reach goals
Whether you’re looking to expand the reach of your company, market it more effectively or improve the productivity of your workforce, a coach can help. You’re in the trenches of your company every day, which makes it easy to lose sight of some goals. A business coach can assess KPIs with you to ensure you’re using the right ones, they’re clearly defined and properly tracked.
Identify knowledge gaps
It’s a fact that no one knows everything. And while the web has opened up a wealth of information to anyone with an internet connection, Google doesn’t hold all the answers. Sometimes, you need an expert on leadership to help you identify gaps in your knowledge and how to fill them.
Expose self-limiting attitudes
Everyone has beliefs that limit them from reaching their full potential, it’s part of human nature. What’s more, once you’ve found success, it’s easy to get stuck in the mindset that led to growth in the first place. However, markets are dynamic and change is inevitable. Coaching can help you break free from limitations and grow on a personal, professional and organizational level.
What type of leader can get the most from business coaching?
Many types of leaders can benefit from business coaching, but individuals with certain qualities may get the most from mentoring, including those who:
Are focused on self-improvement
Self-improvement lies at the heart of success, partly because the world is changing faster than ever. Continual commitment to becoming a more effective leader staves off complacency and ensures that you’re always looking for novel ways to inspire growth.
Like being pushed out of their comfort zone
Staying in their comfort zone can hinder a leader who’s looking to grow. Comfort and complacency go hand in hand, so if you feel like you’re finding everything too easy, it’s time to consider hiring a coach.
Are willing to take risks
As an entrepreneur, you must be willing to take risks and experiment. If something doesn’t work, you need to quickly move on to the next idea instead of getting disappointed or stubbornly pushing forward. A coach can help you take measured risks and experiment with new ways of innovating.
Want to manage their emotions
Emotions can stand in the way of great leaders, but in most cases, this is only when they lack self-awareness. Small business coaching can help you become more aware of how you relate to others, which emotions primarily drive your behaviors and develop strategies to self-regulate.
Are able to ask for help
Asking for advice, being curious and not shying away from displaying vulnerability can help drive exponential business growth. Playing the hero and never asking for help is one of the most limiting ways a leader can behave. A coach can help you unlock a desire for feedback and the confidence to ask for assistance when necessary.
