Whenever You are in Pursuit of a Significant Accomplishment You Have Multiple Blind Spots.
It’s natural for this to be the case. You are looking through the lens of your life. While you may have a wealth of education and experience, you have to realize that you still have one single view. This means you are often looking at the same trees and not able to see the entire forest of possibilities.
This is one of the primary reasons many people who achieve high levels of success in all fields hire coaches and/or have mentors. The question is…
Should You Have a Business Coach or Mentor?
The proverb says “Where there is no counsel, the people fall” (11:14)
The book of Proverbs is the single best resources for guidance in life that I know of. This particular statement sort of tells the story. We all need counsel. Operating in a vacuum of our own knowledge and perspective is a massive limiter.
If you aren’t going after a high level of achievement, you don’t need a coach or a mentor. But if you are, then I can tell you from personal experience from using coaches and mentors, as well as being one for others, the answer is emphatically YES.
Not long ago, a business man reached out to me via a recommendation from a friend. He was starting a company in the education field and he had an awesome game-changing software that could help school systems be more efficient and cost effective, among other things.
But he had no experience in how to get his product into the market. We had a total of five coaching sessions, his company grew, he sold it and did very well in the process. This was in less than a few years. I had nothing to do with the work and the success. That was all him and his team. However, I did help him understand how to make the right contacts, how to use his strengths, and how to share his software in the right customer focused way, such that he could take the right action to move his business forward.
How to Select a Coach or Mentor
Coaching is a huge industry now doing many Billions of dollars in revenue per year. This means there are lots of people who coach. Like any wide open field, some are excellent and some not so much.
I am one voice so you are getting my opinion, not some cookie cutter guideline from a manual.
First thing to look for is who is the human being. Do they resonate with you? How does their life look? Are they living in an integrity-based way where their life is reflective of what they talk about?
Next I look for experience. Coaches in general don’t have to know your area of business, but they do have to have some business acumen and be able to fully understand where you are trying to go and what it takes to get there. So, I want to know, have you built something? It doesn’t have to be a massive business, they just have to have built something to a sustainable level.
Then I look for expertise. Experts often are mentors, as opposed to coaches, but I personally like someone who is both.
You have to decide what is best for you. In the video I break down the difference between a mentor and a coach in the general market. It will help you understand the difference.
When you hire a coach, don’t expect them to perform miracles. You are the one who has to perform the miracle. You also have to be patient when you are implementing new strategies, and learning new techniques and ways to apply your strengths. Don’t hire a coach for a one-off.
My coaching clients all come from referral (I haven’t really marketed my coaching) and I don’t use a contract, I simply do an hour or two per month as a general course, unless it’s a corporate contract (which I have those too). But most of my coaching clients use me over a long period of time. And typically they see results. Some more quickly then others, but then again, that is dependent on many factors.
So if you are serious about success….hire a coach!
Was this helpful for you? Please let me know in the comments below and feel free to share with your team or on Social Media.
Many Blessings,
Todd
P.S. If you’d like to discuss coaching, contact me here.
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