Why is it that I can’t seem to swing a cat without hitting a coach of some kind as I’m out networking? I mean seriously, has there been an explosion in this area that I didn’t hear about, or am I just traveling in different circles? Can anyone tell me?
With all that said… I think that it’s great. With so many small business owners feeling isolated and that they are going at it alone, any help that they can get to be more confident in themselves or their business, to develop new skills and tools to help them grow or in general just feel better and more relaxed is a great, great thing.
By way of example, I recently met Gary Harvey with Achievement Dynamics. Gary is a member of the Corporate Tee Box group that I joined this spring and he offers coaching services for business owners and executives to help them be more effective in sales. After a few conversations with Gary, I went through an initial assessment with him and learned some very interesting things about myself. What I DIDN’T learn is that I hate selling. I already knew that. I love networking. I love evangelizing. I hate selling. I recently had a colleague say to me three times in one conversation “well, you are a sales guy.” I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle the guy. I don’t want to be “that guy”. But, what the assessment did point out is that maaayyyybeee I might have some “head trash” (as Gary likes to put it) about what it means to be in sales. Given my violent reaction to being referred to as “in sales,” I think he might be on to something there. (As an aside, I saw an article on keys to selling when you hate to sell that I thought had some good points.)
Just the assessment with Gary helped me to see five, six, 27 areas where perhaps I could improve my mentality, behaviors and skills with respect to sales. That’s how coaches can help business owners, in a variety of areas. No one can be an expert in everything, so if you want to have a successful business you have to decide what areas you are the strongest in and where you need some help. If you can figure that out, then you have some choices to make: hire to fill the gaps, outsource your non-core strengths or improve your skills to become more effective at your areas of weakness. We started Insight because business owners were focusing almost half of their time on the non-core, back office bullshit that is necessary to have a business operate, but that they didn’t want to do, weren’t any good at and consumed valuable time that they could spend growing the business. Hire, outsource or improve.
Anyone close to me knows that I’m a big fan of therapy. The ability to let someone else help you to see things about yourself that you want to change and giving you the tools to change them. I look at coaching as business therapy… so whether you are getting it through a Coach, or unofficially through advisors as I discussed last week, make sure you are getting it somewhere. We could all use it.
What kind of coaches have you used? Have they been effective? Does just having a coach help you to have the confidence to trust your instincts more? What other resources help you manage and grow your business?
Next week: Everybody Needs Somebody, Sometime – Part III: Virtual Assistants
