In old Hungary, along the Danube River between Budapest and Vienna, there was a village by the name Kocs that produced the world’s finest horse drawn carriages. They had special suspension to carry royalty over the bumpy river road that connected the two cities with a lot more comfort and less distress than the carriers used for other purposes. They came to be known as “coaches.”
Their compact, sturdy and elegant design far surpassed any mode of similar transportation to date and soon became the talk of fifteenth century Europe.
We all know how this term coach expanded for other modes of transportation, be it a stagecoach, motor coach or travel bus. Today, a coach remains something, or someone, who carries a valued cargo or person from where they are to where they want to be. Coaches can point out the sharp bends in the road, the unseen potholes and often hidden danger signs and roadblocks. They help us keep on the right path and on purpose.
Consider just the following possible reasons to retain a coach today:
• The intensity and rate of change that seems to have everyone in a state of managing constant transitions that my good friend Stephen Hacker calls “surfing tsunamis.”
• The sheer amount of information available to the customer 24 hours a day makes them savvier in making their choices as to whom their loyalty is directed regarding a product, service or mission. When choices abound and discretionary time and resources become more precious, the “why” and “how” of what you do as a leader becomes that much more important.
• The challenge of managing multigenerational workforces and emerging new leaders brings with it tremendous opportunity and the need for leadership to possess new levels of sophisticated skills that will not only motivate their teams and customers, but inspire them.
When we consider the potential benefits coaches can bring to leaders and teams let’s also include the small business owner, the emerging leader, the second stage entrepreneur who now is surrounded by a team of people, not just a brilliant idea. Let’s look at some of the specific benefits to you of having a good leadership coach.
A good leadership coach will….
• help prevent unnecessary mistakes. How many times do we, as leaders make isolated decisions that have unintended but very negative consequences? An outside in objective third party perspective is often the only thing we are lacking.
• ask you questions that perhaps no one else is willing to ask because of your perceived position of authority. How many times do we, as leaders, look back and say, “I wish somebody would have told me that before I made that decision!”
• become your trusted advisor so that you can ask questions that you might never pose to your associates because of a perceived fear that it might demonstrate weakness.
• help you address the ongoing “people issues” that crop up in any organization that most likely no one talked about when you had the original idea to start a company, or perhaps you were promoted to a position of leadership for demonstrating excellence with your technical skills but now you find yourself “rowing upstream without a paddle.”
• help you think more strategically week in and week out, instead of just yearly at your “annual retreat.” This can be invaluable to assist leaders and owners to work more “on the business” in a proactive way rather than just “in the business” in a reactive way. This is one of the most frequently heard challenges that I hear from leaders.
• help you obtain that elusive work/life balance you are constantly seeking by helping you work smarter, not harder, saving you both time and money and helping you fulfill your purpose both professionally and personally.
So these are just six examples as to how a personal leadership coach can help you be more successful. So what should you look for in a coach?
A good leadership coach will…
• have current and numerous testimonials of satisfied clients, not just their stated professional experience or even for that matter, certifications as a coach.
• be able to describe exactly how they will work with you, what their underlying methodologies and beliefs are, suggested time frames and how they will work with you to define successful outcomes.
• be great at asking you effective questions and will also possess excellent listening skills. You will most likely find the relationship to be both compatible and challenging and looking forward to your next session.
• want to work them self out of a job, not into a job. If you can get your problem(s) solved in three sessions, a good coach should be able to encourage you to do just that and be available for occasional check-ins. Frequency of coaching sessions should be based on your specific needs. A good coach will also be very concerned about you possibly becoming too dependent on the relationship.
• have the necessary background in psychology if they are helping you primarily with the complexity of working more effectively with people. Conversely, this would not be needed if your coach was addressing how to best read your financial statements to evaluate the critical needs of your business, how best to scale your company or how to develop new markets for your product or services.
• have a team of alliances and strategic partners that they will be able to call on, if indicated, to provide you additional support. There should be no egos involved in getting you the help you need.
So there we go, just six reasons for you to consider a leadership coach and six recommendations to make sure you get the right match for your needs. I would be remiss if I did not mention some other resources available to you that are also listed in another section of this CBN issue.
Consider S.C.O.R.E., a wonderful organization that provides free and confidential business advice for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Explore the many benefits provided by the Small Business Development Center connected to COCC, also free to you. Connect to the Stable of Experts on EDCO’s website and get potentially matched to incredible and valuable coaching resources, also free for a set number of sessions.
Consider joining Opportunity Knocks, a peer to peer business support group led by trained and experienced facilitators that has often been described as “game changing” for a leader or business owner, sort of like your own personal advisory board.
Hang out with community leaders at EDCO’s Pub Talk and be tutored in leadership journeys equal to a college course in one night and have a beer to boot. Speaking of beer, attend Pints With Pillars, a new Bend Chamber offering where you hear from successful leaders and how they got there, including the mistakes they made along the way.
Choose to work smarter in 2015, not harder, be more successful and respected for your quality leadership, drive your company or organization to greater long term sustainability, gain that elusive competitive advantage and enjoy more of the reason you chose to live and work here in the first place, right here, right now!
Jim Lee is the principal of InvitExcellence, a local consulting and professional coaching firm.
jim@invitexcellence.com, 541-771-6184
