Any Olympic competitor will tell you winning is as much a mind game as being proficient in your chosen sport.
It takes years of physical and mental training to reach the top. And the difference between making history (winning Gold) and coming second can be one hundredth of a second as James Magnussen found to his cost.
And no serious athlete would dream of not having a coach. Someone who gives you guidance, provides feedback, corrects your technique, pushes you when you feel you can’t give anymore and above all, holds you accountable.
Someone who’s there to support you when you’re feeling down, and to be your cheer squad encouraging you to ever greater performance.
And you don’t have to be an elite athlete to want a coach. The proliferation of Personal Fitness Trainers shows “normal” people feel they need help in getting fit. Personal trainers are an additional expense, so why would people pay for them?
Simple, it’s easy to fool yourself into believing you’re doing well. A coach forces you to look at reality, measure your performance and above all be accountable to an external party.
If you’ve pre-paid and booked in the session, you’ll turn up. The trainer will push you to exercise, increase your endurance (both mental and physical) and cheer you on. You know you’ll end up better for it (even though you may curse them at the time).
And it’s the same in business.
I remember reading an article written by New Zealand’s most experienced business liquidator where he stated that the number one reason most small business owners went to the wall was not lack of cash flow, but lack of accountability at the top.
His rationale?
Most small business owners had no one to talk to, bounce ideas and keep them on track. And by not having to be accountable to someone external (not their spouse – which was often a quick way to the divorce courts), they made silly decisions, didn’t stretch themselves and were often quite capable of fooling themselves as to the reality of their business’ health.
In short, having a business coach or board of advisors who weren’t emotionally involved in the business who provide sound guidance and above all, accountability could have saved a number of these businesses from extinction.
And he’s absolutely right.
One of the biggest differences in being employed and being a business owner is accountability.
As an employee you’re accountable to your boss (or shareholders). You know someone’s watching your performance. Don’t perform and you’ll eventually get the sack. So if you say you’ll do something as part of your role, you’d better do it.
You work as part of a team, can bounce ideas, learn new skills and grow in competence and confidence. You get reviewed and receive suggestions on how you can improve.
All too often, none of which happens if you’re the boss in your own small business.
Every one of us has blind spots. If you have employees, you may have engendered a culture where they’re afraid to tell you the “emperor has no clothes”.
As they say, “the fish rots from the head”.
So if you’re a business owner and don’t have someone you can bounce ideas off, who keeps you on track and stops you going down rat holes, I strongly suggest you talk to us about our business coaching programs.
Over the last 12 years we’ve helped both small business owners and managing directors of larger organisations develop themselves and their organisations.
In one case we fought very hard to have someone hired where the MD at first dismissed the thought. Someone who went on to be their most successful sales person.
In another case we stopped an owner dismissing his most critical employee – someone who now is absolutely integral to the successful running of the business.
We’ve developed, trained and coached sales teams enabling organisations to become the premier players in their market.
In every case we worked hard on mindset first – expanding the possible, encouraging growth and above all, keeping people accountable to their commitments.
Just like an Olympic coach, there are times we fight and push really hard as we know the breakthrough is right round the corner. Other times we’re there as cheer leaders acknowledging your successes and we’re there when things don’t go according to plan and you need to regroup and climb back onto the horse.
But with us it doesn’t stop with just “coaching”.
We do put together tangible business growth systems including marketing strategies and physical material (sales letters, white papers, web copy, referral systems etc.) as well as provide hands on communication and sales coaching and training which help you convert more prospects into buyers.
So if your business is in a rut and want to expand, call us on (02) 9499-7958 and we can discuss how you can get to the next level in your business.
Rashid.
