Written By: Elizabeth Barry
What a loaded question, right? There are hundreds of thousands of business coaches out there. Some are cookie cutter and some are fantastic and seem as if they’ve been placed on this earth simply to help people succeed and make you feel good. Asking and answering the question, “What does a business coach do?” varies, but I’ll put my twist on it. You see, I’m the latter. I didn’t get a business coaching degree or a certification, I am a born empowerment and strategic thinker and I’ve been working with entrepreneurs and companies for 15 years to celebrate who they are, what their purpose is, what obstacles they’re facing and fill in the gaps from there. It comes natural for me and I truly love what I do.
Great business coaches have one main tactic. TO LISTEN. From there, the honey and the sugar and the answers roll in. Pay attention to watch if your business coach truly listens to your obstacles. If so, they will be able to provide solutions. In my book, Design Your Mind to be Kind, there’s a chapter called “Solutions-Based Thinker”. So many people focus on the problems. Heck, that’s why therapy works! I am in support of the theory of listening and learning, growing and transforming. With the right listening skillsets, answers and solutions present themselves and a calm, clear path gets set.
Speaking and thinking in solutions rather than obstacles presents a calm leadership mentality rather than a frazzled or rushed mindset. Great business coaches, when they listen, strategically carve the paths for clients so that their next steps are well thought-out.
Another great tactic of a business coach who is exemplary is the way that they personalize the experience for clients. Time and again, people go through a factory of tips and tactics, almost as if its cookie-cutter and there can’t be many results from that route. When your mentor and coach can completely personalize the experience for you from the start of contract through the ups and downs and through the end of your agreement to the place where you don’t want to stop and you keep going and re-up, or you start to triple your income or step into the role you’ve created with the coach, then you’ve got a good one. Make sure that your coach makes you feel like a singular asset and not like a number or not like you’ve been systematized.
Ultimately, great coaches in business can increase empowerment, momentum and inspiration and they can help business owners craft team build camaraderie, provide a supportive environment and develop new ideas. Excellent leaders share how to improve customer service, marketing, operations and process, as well as the internal communication flow.
Leadership with heart is when someone really cares. A business coach should care. After all, you’re working typically 9-5, or for many hours of the week. The experience you have in your job can be relatable and wonderful if you set out to be, and if you hone in on the areas where the business isn’t working, and replace the bad habits or processes that are broken with strategy, passion and spirit. From there, all great business ideas flow.
Most of all, if you’re looking for a business coach, it means that you’re ready to grow and then the question doesn’t just become “what does a business coach do”, it becomes “what can my business coach and I do together when it’s the right fit.”
