Business coaches work with business owners and business professionals in two distinct areas-achieving business effectiveness and attaining personal effectiveness.  

 

Quite frequently, successful leaders are stuck in certain areas of their business. This is a common problem that is referred to as a lack of business effectiveness. These pain points can be related to weak profits, sluggish sales, cash flow challenges, people problems, or working too many hours which can result in an unhealthy work/life balance. Other challenges include quality issues, service failures, lack of leadership depth, unfavorable company culture, and limited company value. 

 

Some of these problems make a business owner feel paralyzed. They are often filled with stress, grief, concern, anger, frustration, and doubt. These negative emotions compound the challenges business owners face and can create new problems of their own; some at work, others at home. 

 

A professional business coach can help their client strategically work on business development and systematically solve these problems. This results in higher profits, better cash flow, and a happier workplace.  

 

The second distinct area where a business coach can provide a valuable service is in guiding their client towards tasks that they are not currently focusing on, but know they should be addressing. This is what is called personal effectiveness. Many personal effectiveness issues stem from an absence of defined goals, personal objectives, and coordinated discipline.  

 

Achieving personal effectiveness starts with knowing yourself, your personal vision, and your goals. Personal effectiveness is behavior that is congruent with values. How the client interacts with people of all personality and behavioral types is considered in developing a plan to move forward. A business coach provides the structure and knowledge necessary to help business leaders maximize their own personal effectiveness. 

 

The ultimate responsibility of a business coach is to provide a safe place to guide and support their clients in reaching their stated objectives. In this safe place, the client is free to speak openly knowing that the conversation will be held in complete confidence. When a person hires a business coach, the coach represents the self-interests of one person, the client. 

 

Unlike business consulting, business coaching is not set up to enter a business, solve a problem and leave. Instead, a business coach helps guide business leaders in determining their own problem-solving solutions. The coach guides the client in creative and strategic brainstorming, facilitates strategic planning to solve the problem, and then helps to create a plan to capitalize on new opportunities. Tactical action steps are then developed to implement the strategy. A good coach provides a structured environment where the client is accountable for executing the plans and staying committed to the action steps. 

 

Coaches teach, encourage, challenge, provide structure, and create accountability for the leaders they coach. Professional business coaching works!  

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If you are interested in learning more about business coaching and how it can help your business, reach out to me: