Small Business, Big Lessons™ – Coach Me!

When the best athletes hit a plateau, a point where they find it difficult to keep improving, it’s common for a professional to be brought in. A trainer, a coach, someone to help them move past a prior peak and toward new success. If you find yourself starting to coast, maybe it’s time to bring in a coach!

Trusted Advisor: A coach can be a trusted advisor. It can be difficult to see personal behaviors that could be negatively impacting your business, or even making relationships more difficult. If you find yourself talking over people or ignoring input, taking credit for things you didn’t accomplish on your own or missing crucial details, maybe it’s time to talk to someone who can help you overcome your flaws. On the flip side, you may have some strengths that you’re not leveraging that could be brought out by someone experienced in finding what people excel at. If you’re great at bringing calm to chaos, that’s a strength. If you’re exceptionally organized, that’s a strength. If you’ve never forgotten a birthday, that’s a strength! Having a person that isn’t emotionally tied to your day-to-day business is an incredible benefit. When you hire a personal coach, you’re paying for candor. They’ll tell you what you need to know, talk to you about things others may be uncomfortable sharing with you. Just as a golfer who has developed bad habits on the green over time will hire a golf pro to help them work out the kinks, business leaders can greatly benefit from similar behavioral coaching.

An Alternative Viewpoint:  The alternative viewpoint being provided by a coaching figure can help you figure out how to best approach difficult or uncomfortable conversations with the people in your business life, whether they’re employees, customers or suppliers. Having another voice talking through a few options and providing perspective may take the sting out of the conversation and help you achieve a better outcome through a measured and even-handed approach. Rather than launching into a rant that you’ve been stewing on for days, a coached approach can help you ask questions and better understand the issue. It may feel slower, but the benefit of keeping a positive working relationship in the long term certainly outweighs any delay. Ultimately, it’s your business and the decision rests with you alone, but consider why you reached out for a fresh perspective in the first place. Deep breaths and good advice are priceless.

Expected Outcome: Have a rough outline of expectations with your coach. Determine the frequency, engagement type (in person or “virtual”), and level of communication between meetings. Don’t try to “boil the ocean”. Pick 2-4 things that are in your control that you want to be coached on. Being open to the feedback and new ideas is critical. The more candid you are, the better the outcome. Remember, the world around you see’s the “real you”. Perception is reality to them and a solid coach will help you see yourself as others do.

Think Through: A personal coach is focused on you, the person. They will help you see behaviors as others do. A great one will help accentuate your positive traits and give you tips and feedback to minimize the less desirable ones based on the situation. What can be a positive in one situation can be detrimental in others.

The field of coaching has been evolving. Today there is less focus on fixing something that is considered a weakness. The emphasis is on leveraging your strengths and surrounding yourself with people that have complimentary skills. Remove the items from your to do list that are not energizing today. But – make sure you find a person that is energized by them to get them completed!

Tell me about your experiences working with personal coaches.

About the Author:

Gregory Woloszczuk is an Entrepreneur and experienced tech executive that helps small business owners grow their top and bottom line. Gregory believes in straight talk and helping others see things they need to see but may not want to with a focus on taking responsibly for one’s own business. He and his wife, Maureen, started GMW Carolina in 2006.
Gregory has been fortunate to have been part of building teams for companies that went through hyper-growth as well as his own company. He also has experience in working through economic downturns and taking responsibility to fix what is in his control. The focus has always been working with partners, customers, and building a successful business channel. His range of experience includes marketing, sales, support, training, and operations. Gregory holds an MBA from Nichols College.