Like many busy professionals, you don’t need or want one more distraction. No more advise, no more new programs or systems to learn and implement, no more new hires to train and motivate, no more things on your “to do list”.
What you do want is relief- relief from feeling overwhelmed, scattered, tired, worried and perhaps even bored. You never would have predicted the passion that initially motivated you to complete years of education with high hopes of helping your clients would have dissipated like the air from a popped balloon.
You may wonder whether it is time to sell or give away your small business and work for someone else. While it may be that you are not suited to be a business owner, before you give up, you might want to consider hiring a business coach. A business coach, unlike a consultant, does not tell you what to do or give you advice (unless you ask for it). A business coach works alongside you, asking tough questions and encouraging self-discovery to help you gain clarity, focus and elicit solutions and strategies that are meaningful for you and your practice.
A business coach will help you:
1. Reconnect with WHY you are in business? What makes your professional practice meaningful to you? What are you passionate about? What special gifts do you bring to the table? Your business coach will work with you to explore how to break out of the day-to-day monotony of doing the same thing over and over and reclaim the passion and meaning you originally had when you started your practice. Passion and meaning are powerful motivators.
2. Gain renewed clarity on where you are headed. What is your vision for your practice? Making more money and working less is not specific enough. A business coach will help you break out of foggy thinking and clearly define where you want your small business or professional practice to be in 5 years (Vision), how you will accomplish that (Mission) and how you will make decisions (Values). Clarity will make it easier to take focused action on the right things and not only reduce stress, but also give you more energy.
3. Create a business road map. Now that you know your destination, your business coach will help you design a road map to not only get there, but to enjoy the journey along the way. Together, you will pack for the trip by identifying the resources you will need (time, financial, team, supplies, etc.), milestones you must meet, rules of the road, how the journey fits in with your life, and how you will know when you have arrived.
4. Discover obstacles that sabotage your success. The brain is always looking to protect us and thus will subconsciously hide behaviors from our consciousness that may be holding us back and keeping us stuck. A business coach, being neutral and unbiased, will help you discover those blind spots by developing your self-awareness and asking powerful questions. A business coach also assists with considering and expanding perspectives that help you overcome obstacles.
5. Take focused action with a written action plan. Your business coach will brainstorm with you to identify specific goals, strategies and actions you must take to reach the outcomes you desire. Unlike the road map, which simply helps you get ready, your business coach will assist you in translating your ideas into a written doable plan you use to take ongoing action.
6. Be accountable to yourself. Through weekly or bi-weekly coaching sessions, you will review your progress, celebrate your successes, identify obstacles, explore opportunities and make commitments to yourself and your business coach towards your identified goals and desired outcomes. Your coach is your accountability partner, a person who listens, is not afraid to challenge you, and provides honest feedback.
7. Take yourself seriously. A business coach provides a safe, confidential and secure place for you to vent, explore, emote, test, discuss, celebrate, push back, and acknowledge yourself. Taking time to regularly meet with your coach will create a partnership where you can gain clarity, insight, growth and develop into the best possible person (and business professional) you can be. You will become a person who understands that professionals who infuse passion and meaning into their work become the leaders that inspire happy loyal employees, and clients. A business coach will help you take yourself very seriously, because you matter!
With a business coach on your side, you will rediscover for yourself, how to set yourself free to become the person were meant to be, doing work you are passionate about doing.
“A coach is part advisor, part sounding board, part cheerleader, part manager and part strategist.”
~ The Business Journal
“I absolutely believe that people, unless coached, never reach their maximum potential.”
~ Bob Nardelli CEO, Home Depot
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Janice Knight, business coach with YrCoach is a credentialed coach (PCC) with the International Coach Federation (ICF), President of ICF Sacramento, and has been coaching officially since 2001 and unofficially served since 1985 as an executive coach as in-house senior human resources professional at various private companies.
