Star Wars: the Decision to Reboot

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away… the movie franchise that has captured the love of men and boys combined, will once again come to the big screen. Excitement and enthusiasm will surely continue to increase from now until the premier in December this year. Apparently, in the language of Hollywood, this is what is known as a ‘reboot’, and Star Wars is certainly not the first to be remade in this way. Movies that achieved success the first time round are always likely candidates to be reinvented, revived and revamped.

Personally, I couldn’t care less about the lightsaber-wielding Jedi and the return of an ageing (yet still rather pulchritudinous) Harrison Ford, nevertheless there is certainly a message to be derived from the ‘Return of the Jedi’, ‘the force’, ‘the one ring to rule them all?’ ‘The goblet of fire?’ etc.

By ‘rebooting’ a franchise, there is an injection of excitement and renewed enthusiasm that wouldn’t have been felt otherwise. Perhaps this, then, could be a message to take forward in business – a reboot or reinvention of what you offer, your processes and people.

There comes a time every once in a while, when you may feel that your vision and direction of the company has become wayward, or perhaps employees don’t feel as valued as they once did. In such circumstances, it is important to come back to the reasons why you began the journey of starting your own business in the first place, and what your core beliefs and values established from the outset. This is, in a sense, a reboot. If there are elements of your company that do not fit the model you initially had in mind, this referral back to your former self may allow both you and your business to understand how best to move forward again. This does not always mean, however, that changes or adaptations that are made along the way are always negative, nor does it mean your business should maintain rigid systems that cannot be adapted to meet fresh challenges. What the ‘rebooting’ process allows is the opportunity to reflect on these changes, and assess whether they have benefitted or hindered progress.

This look back at your default settings will aid you in refocusing your business in the holistic sense, allowing clarity of thought and a renewed passion for the road ahead.

Sometimes it is best to look back at where you came from, in order to progress forwards.

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 world’s 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 don’t you?

With the help of our clients, we’ve 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 world’s best across all industries have coaches, so why wouldn’t you?

7 Reasons to Consider a Coach

The world of sport is used to the concept of a coach and trainer as someone who motivates, challenges and inspires the athlete to better performance and greater achievements. Even those who excel in a sport rely on a coach. Andy Murray’s tennis improved under Ivan Lendl’s coaching expertise, finally achieving that Wimbledon win we all celebrated.

Similarly, business owners, leaders and managers can benefit from having a mentor or coach. I work with several who came looking for help and support because they were experiencing one or more of the following seven symptoms.

1.     You believe that the business will suffer if you are not there all the time; taking a holiday is out of the question

2.     You feel you are married to your business and that it demands working all hours

3.     Your business does not generate enough profit to justify your efforts

4.     You have fallen out of love with your business

5.     You have a lot of business experience, however you haven’t invested in yourself in years

6.     You have lost sight of where the business is going and why

7.     Because you are already good and recognise that it’s going to take that bit extra to become OUTSTANDING

So what makes a good coach and what results can you expect from working with one?

Faye, the Managing Director of Running Imp in Lincoln who I coach said this,

“From the first time I heard Paula Finch speaking at a business seminar, I knew I wanted to work with her, by chance or rather fate she became our business coach at Running Imp on the Growth Accelerator. Paula has transformed my thought process and techniques allowing me to spend more time on high value areas in the business by giving some control to the Senior Management Team. We now have a clear direction of where we are going and have implanted the tools required to ensure success. If you want impressive high end business mentoring I recommend Paula to any serious business looking to get results and have a clear plan of the future ahead."

So if you want results for you, your team and your business, with funding options available, call Paula on 01778 424640 today – it could be the one change that makes the biggest difference.

Coaching to achieve High Business Growth

Are you thinking of starting a strategic review of your business and have ambitions for growth? Don’t miss out on government investment, match funding and business development coaching through the Growth Accelerator Programme.

If you’re not familiar with Growth Accelerator, it is the premier support service that helps ambitious
business owners based in England achieve rapid sustainable growth, with the Government co-
investing and making a major contribution towards the overall cost of the support package offered
by the scheme. There are 4 areas of available support: Business Development, Access to Funding, Growth through Innovation and Leadership and Management.

What’s impressive is that the scheme is genuinely unlocking new high growth potential and, even
more encouragingly, it is literally coming from anywhere. In other words as long as the management team has the ambition and determination to develop skills to make it happen you don’t have to be a start-up business, based in London or other city centres to achieve success.

How do you know if it’s right for you? The initial consultation with a Growth Manager normally
results in a 3-part strategy and marketing review to highlight and resolve the blockages that are
preventing your business from breaking through into full-scale growth. At this point you will be
assigned a Growth Accelerator Coach, like me, who will meet with your leadership to identify what
needs to be done and set you on course to get things done.

What are the key issues that need addressing? In my experience the biggest needs are:

1. Getting the leadership team, who are constantly pulled back into operational issues, to step
   back from the business and think strategically. This doesn’t always come easy.
2. Getting individual members of the leadership team to understand each other’s thinking and
   re-aligning them to the overall vision and strategy.
3. Identifying skills gaps and training needs to make sure the business delivers the anticipated
   growth.

How quickly the scheme produces results depends on how well the business acts on what needs to be done to get there, but the feedback is good. A report published by Growth Accelerator in
September 2013 said that 3,400 businesses are increasing turnover more quickly and 3,100 are
increasing employment at a faster rate as a result of working with Growth Accelerator. 78% said the initial assessment provided clarity on how to drive growth, 77% said they got something from
Growth Accelerator that they couldn’t get elsewhere and 94% of businesses receiving Business
Development coaching said they have achieved an outcome they couldn’t have by themselves.

So whether you’ve been in business for many years or are a relative newcomer, if growth is your
goal and you have the determination and motivation to make it happen then now’s a great time to
act. As an accredited Growth Accelerator coach I can refer you to a Growth Manager to get you started, so get in touch Tel: 01778 424640.

Growth Accelerator – Delivering results 1 Year On

The Department of Business, Innovation and skills has published the first annual report on the GrowthAccelerator scheme.

What’s impressive is that the scheme seems to be genuinely unlocking new high growth potential, with only 32% of the 6,000 or so businesses that have participated in the scheme so far having sought strategic business advice previously in the last 2 years.
Reported feedback includes:

• Significant impact – 78% said their initial assessment provided clarity on how to drive growth
• 77% said they got something from GrowthAccelerator that they couldn’t get elsewhere
• 94% of businesses receiving Business Development coaching have achieved an outcome they couldn’t have by themselves

Key findings in the report include

• 3,400 businesses are increasing turnover more quickly and 3,100 are increasing employment at a faster rate as a result of working with GrowthAccelerator
• Ambition, dedication and inspiration in management teams are the most vital factors in achieving high growth for businesses.
• Businesses using the service are happy with the advice they have received – 97%say they’d recommend GrowthAccelerator
• Based on this experience, high growth comes from businesses of any size, age or sector or in any geographical location. In other words you don’t have to be a start-up business, based in London or other city centres to achieve success on the programme.

The scheme now aims to generate 55,000 new jobs and £2.2bn of economic growth within three years. That’s great news for business.