Monday 6 July 2015

Why Even the Best Leaders Need a Coach


Even the world’s best can’t do it all on their own. Athletes such as tennis No.1 Novak Djokovic, the worlds best footballer Lionel Messi, and Rugby World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson all reached the pinnacle of their craft, yet each has coaches and advisors around them to guide them further down the path of success. Likewise can be said of the sharpest minds in business; Caan, Robbins, Branson etc and political leaders like Obama and Cameron have a back room of staff offering direction. Just because they have achieved success does not mean they presume to be the finished article. They continue to employ leading thinkers and experts in specific fields around them, regardless of the success they enjoy.

So the question is, if the best in the world in every field recruits a bit of help – why dont you?

With the help of our clients, weve come up with…..
5 Ways that a Coach can make a Difference:

1.    Offers a different perspective - It is always rewarding in some form to receive alternative ideas on the processes, values, people, products etc that make up your business. Often when an owner or MD spends a lengthy period involved with the intricacies of running a business, they lose the ability to identify areas of weakness that may have gradually increased over years, subtle enough to be overlooked by the SMT. The fresh approach of a coach entering such an environment with a clear head and no preconceptions benefits even the most affluent of organisations, as there is always something to be improved upon.

2.    Can’t afford to have a coach? More like can’t afford NOT TO – of course no coach would offer their services for free, so yes unfortunately they come at a price. But it can’t be stressed enough that this short-term expense would see a return on your investment swiftly, and in more ways than one. Cost saving short cuts can be taken and increased productivity means that from a financial perspective, the benefits will become apparent quite quickly. The removal of a negative or unproductive employee or a slight change in processes and procedures can have a profound effect on the overall cost effectiveness of your business. However what I would argue is the most striking benefit to cost effectiveness is the time that is saved. Time is the most valuable currency that any of us hold, so to spend that time listening to someone who has been through the process of running a successful business may end up saving you from time wasting initiatives and rash ventures further down the road.

3.    Focuses concentration on the right areas – as alluded to earlier, it is very easy for members of senior management to get bogged down in the detail of the day to day running of the company, particularly in SME’s when staff numbers are low. This can lead to a loss of direction as the team has lost its’ captain at the helm. Growth and expansion become difficult, as those required to facilitate this are focused elsewhere. A business coach can, then, coach you and your team to focus ‘on’ rather than ‘in’ the business.

4.    Accountability – procrastination is the barrier to growth. When you are a law unto yourself, as owners of business usually are, things get stuck on the back burner. Jobs that may require something that makes you uncomfortable or might be out of your comfort zone can get forgotten about. When you only have yourself to answer to, simply put, you’ll probably get lazy. The presence of a business coach positively alters this dynamic, giving you someone who can scrutinise your decisions and force you to question the judgements you make. In short, business owners become accountable to the coach, therefore can no longer put off the jobs which otherwise would be left undone.

5.    Life and Business experience - we never stop learning. However long you have run a business for, there’s always a lesson to learn from every new experience, if you are open-minded enough to see it. It is this open-mindedness that makes the acquisition of a coach especially rewarding. Surely it makes sense to take the advice of someone who has been in your position, and has seen it through to achieve success. The road to success is never a straightforward one, indeed it is more likely a maze in which you are presented with multiple options at every turn, making it incredibly difficult to reach your targets. A business coach stands at your shoulder, helping you to identify the right route to take, having walked the maze before and having made mistakes that they can now help you to avoid.

The worlds best across all industries have coaches, so why wouldnt you?