Pro athletes have coaches and trainers to challenge them, lead them, help to make them stronger. Their coaches can also help pick them up when they have down times and to celebrate their successes. Many coaches can end up being mentors and life-long friends. In business, most of the greatest leaders have a coach – be that Fortune 500 CEO’s, World Leaders, and even the entrepreneur on your local downtown store.
One of my greatest allies, mentors and coaches was my college football coach, Bob Foster. He led our team to repeated winning seasons but for me, he taught me more than I could ever write or speak about. I say he was a “man builder”. He didn’t just give me answers or tell me what to do. He let me struggle to find my answer. He challenged me to push myself to be uncomfortable, which ultimately led to my growth. Had he just told me what to do, I would always look to him for answers. I feel that I am the person I am today from spending 4 amazing years learning from Coach Foster. He taught me about life, personal performance, and teamwork.
Running a business can be exciting, challenging, and lonely. It has been said that it is “lonely at the top” and boy at times that can be so true. Not all business owners have a support network they can draw from for support, ideas, guidance, and help. A coach is a great resource for any leader. Consider a coach as a guide, a muse, a confidant, and a cheerleader. Who doesn’t need all of those?
Coaching for Business Owners
How can a coach can be valuable to a business owner? First, if a business is growing rapidly, or an owner wants to 10x their business, a coach can help clarify goals and visions, help the owner develop his or her staff, and strengthen the “Leader Within” the owner to make the growth smooth and avoid those rocky or unpredictable times. A coach can help the owner work through challenges in staff, marketing, or to take a deep dive into the systems in the business to optimize them for growth.
Second, with growth comes change. These changes might be changes in responsibility, jobs or position/title changes. As a business grows, an owner will take on different “hats” or roles in the company. This can challenge one’s identity or who they see themselves as. For example, if an entrepreneur was the one who did everything in a business to get it off the ground, he or she may have been the bookkeeper, customer service rep, marketer, and janitor all at the same time. A coach can help the owner discover and clarify where his or her strengths are and how to delegate.
Maybe an owner is considering a big shift in life that involves a change in direction or maybe even a career change. A coach can help explore different pathways to take, help to discover true passions and a Life Purpose statement that can create a unique path that brings out the passion and fulfillment that has been missing in life. Big changes like a shift in career can bring out fear, limiting beliefs, and those voices that will tell the owner “you’ll never make it” or “why the heck are you giving up something good like what you have now?” A coach can help the owner bust through these limiting beliefs and stories that often hold people back.
Regardless of your situation in life, if you are feeling that you know you have more potential in your life and you want to do something about it, a coach may be a wonderful choice for you to truly live the life you want to live, and deserve to live.