When you are in charge of a company, you have a lot on your plate, and you likely spend the day making decision after decision. Life is moving quickly, and you are juggling multiple activities constantly; you need to serve your customers, you are trying to grow the business, and you’re developing and managing your employees. All of these activities add up to you spending time running the business while putting out a lot of fires. When do you have time to step back, analyze your business, determine the best path forward, and figure out how to stay on track?
Many business owners that I know are facing some sort of “shift” right now. During times of crisis, such as our experience with Covid-19 and the shutdowns we’ve experienced, we need a level of creativity and agility to meet the challenges head-on. People are seeing wide-ranging changes and are dealing with everything from a near complete shut-down of their industry to just having to implement new processes and procedures.
Sometimes, we are so engrossed in our companies, our industry, and the way we have navigated our companies, that it is difficult to step back and view our company from an alternate perspective. When a coach works with clients, they provide that fresh perspective. Because they don’t have a preconceived notion of how you should run your business, they tend to look at things through a different lens. The coach focuses on helping you determine a path to meet your vision, and more importantly, serves as someone who can pull you back on track when you get lost in the weeds and spend too much time in the day to day.
A coach also serves as an accountability partner to share honest, objective and direct feedback. They check in with you on your performance metrics and deadlines. Your coach will likely push you to stretch your boundaries, and grow beyond your current comfort zone. A strong coach will have a toolkit of knowledge, assessments and experience to apply to your specific situation to effect positive change.
Ben is a client of mine. He owns a small manufacturing company on the west coast. When I first met him, Ben was an extremely frustrated business owner. He knew he had a good company, but he had multiple pain points and was overwhelmed by the thought of figuring it out on his own. Ben knew his company could be bigger and better than it was at the time.
I served as an objective set of eyes to look at the activities of his company in a completely unbiased and objective way. Previously, his feedback either came from friends and family, or from his executive team, and as it turns out, that feedback was always slightly biased. Ben appreciated the questions I would ask, and he also appreciated when I would challenge his assumptions and encourage him to think through multiple options. Working together, we were able to expand his thinking, while at the same time, really focus on the opportunities for strengthening his company. This led to the development of a new vision for the company. We set up an implementation plan combined with an accountability system, so that by working with me on a regular basis, Ben would stay focused on his larger goals. Our relationship developed over time into one where I could really hold Ben’s feet to the fire, call him out on his activity, congratulate him on his successes and help him re-group when he hit a stumbling block. During that year, Ben saw an increase in overall revenues by 15%. Because he saw actual results, he has now enrolled a couple of his immediate subordinates in a coaching program to help them develop their management capabilities and continue to implement the company vision.
Coaching helped Ben clarify the important things in his business and develop a laser focus on his goals. It also allowed Ben to identify high performers among his team and get them started on a leadership development program. If you think coaching could enhance your performance, or that of your team, please reach out for a discussion. We’ll see if it could be a fit for you and your team. Email me at mpatton@odastrategy.com.
