In my business, one of my offerings is executive coaching. I spend time with leaders helping them define success, get clarity on goals, decide what is important to them, develop effective behaviours and grow their emotional intelligence.
As my business has grown, I have found myself increasingly time poor and starting to feel a bit scattered. I am suffering from “not enough time in the day” syndrome. Which, coincidentally, is often what my clients are struggling with. So I have taken my own advice and engaged a coach / mentor. My reasons?
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1 Time Commitment. It is very easy to book calendar time to work on your business (or your leadership), however other priorities have a nasty habit of overtaking. I might have a half day blocked out to do some business planning and a client calls me with a request. I find it too easy to book the client into that half day. A booked time with a coach is a commitment that you can’t easily overbook with something else.
2 Clarity. My coach and I are going to review how I work. We will look at systems, outsourcing and solutions to free me up to do what I do best. We will target my efforts on the sweet spot – what I love doing, what I am good at and what people and businesses will pay me to do.
3 Implementation. My coach has templates, systems and contacts to help me get all the important but not urgent things cleared off my to-do list. Web redesign? Sorted. A photographer to do new headshots? Done. Yes, I could do or source all these things myself, but it all takes precious time (my excuse for not having it done already!)
4 Accountability. It is not easy to let things slip when you have your coach expecting an update on your progress. We agree on an action list, and I get on with it because I know that someone is keeping an eye on my progress. Because I am paying my coach, I have skin in the game and that is a big motivator to make progress.
5 Reinforcement. Sometimes when working on new products and services, a bit of self-doubt creeps in. A coach is someone to bounce ideas off, someone who can ask the right questions to keep me on the right track.
So, those are my 5 reasons for engaging a coach. I am interested in hearing your experiences. Have you got a business coach or mentor? What is your main reason for having one? What has been the biggest benefit to you?
photo credit: International Information Program (IIP) via photopin cc
Rosalind Cardinal
Rosalind is the Principal Consultant of Shaping Change, an Australian consultancy, specialising in improving business outcomes by developing individuals, teams and organisations. Ros works with leaders and managers who are experiencing challenges truly leveraging the talents and skills of their people. She is a solutions and results oriented facilitator and coach, with a career in the Human Resources and Organisational Development field spanning more than 20 years. Ros brings an energetic and proactive approach combined with a wealth of knowledge and experience. Her expertise spans leadership development, organisational culture, team building, change and transition management, organisational behaviour, employee engagement and motivation, strategic direction and management.
Ros is a talented executive and leadership coach, with current coaching clients at Executive and Senior levels in Government agencies, private enterprise and the community sectors. She is a sought after guest speaker and subject matter expert at events and conferences.
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