5 Reasons To Work With a Business Coach
Friday, August 7, 2009
OBSERVATION
Since the economy has slowed in 2008, advisement about surviving in the "tough economy" has been heavily focused on marketing, advertising, cutting costs, and employing technology. The way I see it, there has not been nearly enough emphasis on ensuring that the minds of business leaders stay healthy.
I believe that too often, business owners in particular forget that we are the economy. A collective state of mind that is negative only guarantees that things will stay bad. All of the business tools listed above--marketing, advertising, cost analysis, and technology are far less effective when business leaders have a poor mental outlook.
BUSINESS COACHES
Business coaches exist to improve our mental picture. Here are 5 key things that business coaches have helped me with in my career:
1. GRATITUDE
During down times especially, it is easy to focus on the lack of things in our careers and businesses rather than being grateful for what we have. A good coach can bring you back to a state of gratitude for the things you have currently, and a great coach can get you grateful about things you don't even have yet.
2. ALLOWING
When something or someone is a perceived obstacle, headache, or outcast in our life or career, it is easy to fall into a trap where our minds constantly expend negative energy about wanting to change and or judge that entity. A good coach can identify the stream of negative energy so that you can observe it, and a great coach will help you re-direct that energy to something productive at work.
3. DEALING WITH FEAR
Fear is a paralyzing emotion that keeps us from acting in the present because of something negative we think might happen in the future. A good coach can help identify fears, a great coach can turn your fear-based lack of action into productive action to get things done.
4. DEALING WITH CHANGE
Business is changing so fast these days that business people need to re-invent themselves periodically. Human beings are habitual, and some habits that are deeply programmed into our daily activities are simply impossible for some of us to change without help or outside awareness. A good coach makes you aware that those things need to change, a great coach thinks of creative ways to access your subconscious to truly re-arrange the dendrites in your brain to change something (even if methods are sometimes "off the wall").
5. FOCUS
The way I see it, when the four items above are in line, it is much easier to sit down prioritize your day. In business, we only get a finite number of minutes in the day. We will either choose to spend our time on things that help our careers grow, or we won't. Being able to clearly see what to focus on relies largely on getting the first four items of this list in check. Focusing on the right things brings about success.
CONCLUSION
I have worked with business coaches off and on throughout my career. For me, I would not be the same without the impressions that they have made on me during my tenure as a business owner.
I recently had a project that was not going the way I wanted. I was so distracted and out of focus that it was effecting productivity. I worked with business coach John Fox, and he really helped me get my mental outlook at work back on track.
This recent experience made me realize how important it is for business professionals to invest in our mental outlook, so much so that D'Mention Systems and I co-founded Think Out Loud Masterminds along with John Fox to give other business professionals access to the same opportunities that I've had in these areas.
Since the economy has slowed in 2008, advisement about surviving in the "tough economy" has been heavily focused on marketing, advertising, cutting costs, and employing technology. The way I see it, there has not been nearly enough emphasis on ensuring that the minds of business leaders stay healthy.
I believe that too often, business owners in particular forget that we are the economy. A collective state of mind that is negative only guarantees that things will stay bad. All of the business tools listed above--marketing, advertising, cost analysis, and technology are far less effective when business leaders have a poor mental outlook.
BUSINESS COACHES
Business coaches exist to improve our mental picture. Here are 5 key things that business coaches have helped me with in my career:
1. GRATITUDE
During down times especially, it is easy to focus on the lack of things in our careers and businesses rather than being grateful for what we have. A good coach can bring you back to a state of gratitude for the things you have currently, and a great coach can get you grateful about things you don't even have yet.
2. ALLOWING
When something or someone is a perceived obstacle, headache, or outcast in our life or career, it is easy to fall into a trap where our minds constantly expend negative energy about wanting to change and or judge that entity. A good coach can identify the stream of negative energy so that you can observe it, and a great coach will help you re-direct that energy to something productive at work.
3. DEALING WITH FEAR
Fear is a paralyzing emotion that keeps us from acting in the present because of something negative we think might happen in the future. A good coach can help identify fears, a great coach can turn your fear-based lack of action into productive action to get things done.
4. DEALING WITH CHANGE
Business is changing so fast these days that business people need to re-invent themselves periodically. Human beings are habitual, and some habits that are deeply programmed into our daily activities are simply impossible for some of us to change without help or outside awareness. A good coach makes you aware that those things need to change, a great coach thinks of creative ways to access your subconscious to truly re-arrange the dendrites in your brain to change something (even if methods are sometimes "off the wall").
5. FOCUS
The way I see it, when the four items above are in line, it is much easier to sit down prioritize your day. In business, we only get a finite number of minutes in the day. We will either choose to spend our time on things that help our careers grow, or we won't. Being able to clearly see what to focus on relies largely on getting the first four items of this list in check. Focusing on the right things brings about success.
CONCLUSION
I have worked with business coaches off and on throughout my career. For me, I would not be the same without the impressions that they have made on me during my tenure as a business owner.
I recently had a project that was not going the way I wanted. I was so distracted and out of focus that it was effecting productivity. I worked with business coach John Fox, and he really helped me get my mental outlook at work back on track.
This recent experience made me realize how important it is for business professionals to invest in our mental outlook, so much so that D'Mention Systems and I co-founded Think Out Loud Masterminds along with John Fox to give other business professionals access to the same opportunities that I've had in these areas.
If you liked this blog, here are some other sites that might interest you:
Do you know anyone who has a technical project--large or small, such as a website, software project, or network setup that is stalled or half complete? I'm never too busy for a referral, so if you think I could help--feel free to drop us an inquiry by clicking here...
- Connect with my business partner, Andrew Hollamon at LinkedIn
- Andrew Hollamon's Blog
- D'Mention Systems' Blog on tech issues
Do you know anyone who has a technical project--large or small, such as a website, software project, or network setup that is stalled or half complete? I'm never too busy for a referral, so if you think I could help--feel free to drop us an inquiry by clicking here...
Labels: Business coaching benefits
