The Boss of You

So, here’s a word that gets bandied about a lot these days: coaching. It seems half the population is, or has, a coach: a personal coach, a business coach, a fitness coach… who knows, there are probably pampered-celebrity-dog coaches out there, too.

You can always count us among the skeptics when it comes to anything this trendy. Except that, of course, for one thing, we are very keen on so-called “personal development” (so long as it’s actually development, and not just self-indulgent navel-gazing), and oh yeah, one of our dearest friends is a coach. So we kind of had to give her a chance to show us what coaching could offer our business.

It turns out that coaching was a good fit for us. Why? Let me count the ways:

• A good coach will zone in on your blind spots. We thought we were pretty self-aware in this department, but it turns out that Signy was able to call us on some important stuff, from habits that were getting us into workaholic ruts, to biases about money, power, and success that were limiting us.
• Your coach can help you celebrate your achievements. You don’t see your coach all the time (we schedule sessions 6-8 weeks apart), so they’re better able to notice your progress over time. That added perspective can be invaluable, especially in small businesses where your role as an owner is likely to see you wearing many hats. It’s hard to keep your eye on the changes that are taking place when you’re busy putting out fires from one day to the next. And if you’re like us, you’re so busy scaling the next mountain that the ones behind you don’t seem so exciting anymore. It can be helpful to have a cheerleader to point back to them and go, “Holy smoke! You did that!”
• On a similar note, you will have help staying true to your vision. It’s a lot easier to stick to your guns when you have an outside person keeping you accountable to the goals you set for yourself. It’s kinda like having a regular gym date with a friend: it’s just easier to stick to the plan when someone else is counting on you to show up.

So, what exactly do we do in a coaching session? Well, we talk about what’s new since the last time we met, in broad brush-strokes, highlighting areas where we’re particularly proud, or where we feel we need some help. We brainstorm ways to make internal projects work better. (For example, we’re rewriting our website copy right now, and Signy helped us put together a project plan for that — and a way to keep her apprised of our progress so we don’t slip up and let client work push our internal priorities aside.) We bounce sales ideas around, using Signy as a “test client”. We’ve developed five-year plans, screens for new clients, and even scheduled parties. (She insisted we celebrate the completion of the first draft of Boss Lady, the book. In retrospect, I can’t believe we didn’t think of that ourselves.)

In other words, our coach is a sounding board for business ideas. When we have challenges, she is very often the midwife to a brilliant solution. She does this not by swooping in and bestowing her opinions on us, but by probing and challenging us to develop plans that work for us. In other words, she coaches us to be better, smarter businesspeople, who keep our values clear and present.

It may be trendy, but it’s working for us. How about you? Anyone else using a business coach, or a similar model (like an advisory board)? Got another perspective to share?