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A BUSINESS IN COACHING: WHAT YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE CONSIDERED

Posted by Martin Bennett on Feb 23, 2020 in Other

As a Business Coach, Career Coach and Life Coach of some years, I have come across many things I had not really considered before I started my business in coaching. Here I’d like to share some of them and explore how you might approach them in your own coaching business.

Your own emotional health and well being

Dealing with other people’s difficulties in life will make you reflect on your own. Your previous experiences can be a huge resource to fall back upon when helping your clients but equally can influence you less positively if you let them. It is up to you to make sure you are guiding from the head and not the heart. Clients’ problems can cause you emotional upset too, especially with a long-standing client with whom you have formed a bond. Building resilience into yourself will help guard against this. However, even the toughest need assistance too. So why not work with a fellow Coach to share the burden? Take care of your own emotional health, as without it you cannot continue to help others.

Building a business in coaching

As a coach you have to build a business, so you go through similar steps to some of your clients. Steps such as building a website, promoting yourself, and seeking out clients need to be taken. You also have to learn about the new modern skills of digital marketing and sales funnels. You may be starting your own business from scratch, and working for yourself can be a lonely place.  Therefore, I would suggest that you consider employing your own Business Coach to help guide you and make sure your business runs smoothly, leaving you free to actually work with clients.

Prioritisation

Working out how you should tackle work priorities can cause you stress. Which client requires greater guidance between sessions? Which client comes first when diaries conflict? Everyone battles with prioritisation and that is why some people employ Coaches. You need to know that, as a Coach, you will also have the same battles. If you are prepared to stick by your decisions and yet remain flexible if the choice proves to be wrong, then prioritisation becomes easier.

Time

This is a big one; time to build your own coaching business and the time you give to your clients. Time for yourself to recover and recuperate. Making time for your family and other personal commitments. Know that as a coach you will learn to use time to your advantage, to let things work through to conclusion. I find that planning timescales into all my projects, personal and business, helps to keep perspective of everything that I am working on. Extend that planning into the detail of your client work. This means that realistic expectations can be created and maintained for both you and your clients.

These are some of the considerations that I feel will help you to gain greater clarity and insight before embarking on your own coaching business. If you have any to add, please let me know.

TOP OF YOUR GAME? YOU CAN STILL BENEFIT FROM AN EXECUTIVE COACH!

Posted by Martin Bennett on Feb 10, 2020 in Business Coaching, Executive Coaching

Just when you have reached the pinnacle of your career, be it in business or sports, you may start to think its time to ditch your Executive Coach. After all, they have been pushing you to reach your goals and now you have got there. I am going to demonstrate that this is not the decision you want to make.

I’ve Arrived, Haven’t I?

Arrived at the goal(s) you set for yourself, yes. But why not aim higher, or in a different direction? You may want some time to re-group and to relax a little on the full throttle approach. However, once that short sojourn is over, you may find you are ready to get going again and focus on some new challenges.

Keeping Your Eye on the Ball

Once you stop coaching sessions, you can be tempted to relax your grip on the day to day running of your career or business. Maintaining ‘match fitness’ will need some attention, even if you have automated much of your processes. Retaining a coach to help you hold onto the smooth running of your business is a good idea.

New Challenges

Within your business, new challenges can come by the way of staff changes, new equipment, or changes in trading regulations, to name just 3 examples. By retaining your coach, you can head off most disasters before they arise. Your executive coach will help you to identify ways to incorporate internal and external changes into the business.

Growth

Growth never stops. When building your business, your main goal will be to increase profit, which in turn is determined by wage and product cost increases, which leads to more production etc…

This can mean you are on a hamster wheel of ever-increasing growth. To continue growth, you will need your Executive Coach as the pressures can be a little overwhelming. Until you sell your business, you do not want to slow down the growth. Your potential buyer or investors also need to see the ability for the business to continue its growth.

Support from your Executive Coach

Life can be tough at the top, having a compadre and confidant, who is also independent, will help you to stay there. If you are the CEO and the buck stops with you, having the support of your Executive Coach will help release pressure and let you make better decisions. For your wellbeing, your coach can help you to keep all the confidence and self-esteem you have built up as your business has grown and developed.

If you would like to talk through your options with an Executive Coach, then please contact me to for an introductory call about your options.

LOOKING FOR A CAREER COACH IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Posted by Martin Bennett on Jan 27, 2020 in Career Coaching

Are you looking to develop your career in the public sector further? Are you finding making that step onwards difficult? A career coach can help you work out the obstacles to your advancement and help you get that job or position for which you are yearning. The rewards come with moving up the pay scale and having more responsibility and power.

Stuck in a Rut

Lots of people feel that they should just keep their head below the parapet and wait for job offers from their current employer. Asking your line manager to advance you can sometimes feel like being pushy or rude. So, we get stuck in the hamster wheel and end up getting frustrated.

Looking for a Career Coach

Having someone to help you work through your work-life issues and assist you to move up the career ladder is great. So, how do you find a career coach? Sometimes, there will be a colleague at work who has moved up and is willing to coach you. However, this is not always the case. Googling will provide you with a number of career coach options. However, you may need a more specialist coach with experience in the public sector.

What Attributes to Look for in Your Career Coach

In my career as an HR professional, I worked in a number of public sector organisations. These spanned Health, Housing, Government and Local Government. I have a keen appreciation of how recruitment processes work within these types of organisations. I also understand the cultural mindset of these institutions.

In selecting the right career coach for your requirements, firstly look for someone with knowledge of public sector recruitment. They will understand the right application processes and where to look for the right position for you. The application process and criteria can be very different from the wider working world.

Your career coach should be able to work with you on your Curriculum Vitae and help to redress any issues to give you a head start when applying. He/she will help you with your online presence, utilising LinkedIn for example.

They should work with you on interview techniques. They should also guide you on the appropriate answers and which questions you should ask in return.

If being headhunted or given a number of job offers, your career coach should be able to help steer you through the offers to make sure you make the right decision for you. This is not always the one with the highest salary.

What Can You Expect from Myself as Your Career Coach?

At first, you will be asked a number of questions, so that we can work out where things are not working for you in your current role. We will also talk through what you want from your next role. We take your lifestyle and family situation into account too. These can be factors when choosing the right career path. It is important to understand your motivations. I will explore whether knee-jerk decision-making is taking place, or whether your next role will really fulfil you in the longer term. We may examine your values to be sure your next move will not lead to disillusionment further down the track.

On a practical level, we will look at how you are presenting yourself, both in-person and online. We will help you make appropriate adjustments. We then work through application and interview stages to provide the best chance of securing the role you want.

Once you have the next job, you and your career coach will want to have a plan in action to continue on your career path.

If you would like to talk through anything with a career coach, then please contact me to for an introductory call about your options.

WHAT IS A BUSINESS COACH AND HOW CAN I BENEFIT?

Posted by Martin Bennett on Jan 13, 2020 in Business Coaching

Whether you like it or not, being in business, like any other competitive sport, has winners and losers. If you want to make it to the top in your sector, then it is going to take some of the same things required in sports. Determination, skill, endurance, and coaching. This is where a Business Coach comes in.

So, what does a business coach actually do?

The answer is simple, much the same as a sports coach. They will keep you accountable and on track. You will gain a second sight into your business and a confidante, who will keep your cards close to their chest. Having the benefit of previous experience, your coach will guide you to avoid many of the pitfalls a fledgling business can land itself in.  A business coach works with many businesses and so often sees all the problem areas way before the owner, so listening to them is vital.

Benefits of working with a business coach include:

Growth

Working with a coach means you will progress faster. In business, this can translate into growing faster. Building a business on firmer foundations with better systems in place will pay dividends when it comes to expansion, franchising or selling on.

Partnership

You also benefit from having a working partner, without the frustrations that can come with a business partner. You get to run your ideas past someone who has inside knowledge of your business, and experience of lots of others. A partner is for life, whereas a business coach is more on an ad hoc basis, in which you may need them for a project or two, then you can continue as usual.

Long term

A good business coach will be with you for the long term, assisting you to grow and expand. They gain a deeper understanding of your business and so are able to step in and advise without too much debriefing.

Goal setting

Coaches like to set goals and tasks for you to work with. Practise sessions and tabletop scenarios will let you see how your business decisions could pan out, one way or the other. Once you achieve each goal, your coach will be planning ahead for the next.

Step out of the box

Staying in your own comfort zone is an easy option for lots of business owners. It is the ones who step outside the box and go for the bigger wins that succeed. A good business coach will be looking to stretch your horizons and help you to feel more comfortable with risk.

More Money

As with any competition, winning means prizes and in business, that means more money. Making more money should be the basis of business as, with extra cash flow, you can expand.

Better organisation

Business coaches tend to help you organise your business better. For example, by hiring the right staff or getting outside assistance to keep your business running smoothly. They can also help you decide if some expenses need cutting back on.

There are many more reasons and benefits of working with a business coach. Probably, as many as there are businesses! If you would like to find the reason you need to work with a business coach, why not contact me and see what I can do for you?