With the New Year already in full swing you might feel you need to find some motivation. Maybe you need to get your creative juices flowing or find new inspiration for your business.
Almost anyone can call himself or herself a ‘coach’. So how do you find the sharpest needle in the already crowded haystack? We would suggest looking into these four key areas before making the decision to employ:
Background – investigate their background, what are their qualifications? But, perhaps more importantly their experience? Take a look at their client portfolio. Your business coach needs to understand the kind of pressures you face so make sure they know what it’s like to work at your level, what is expected of you and your role in order to really help you.
Their skills – yes their portfolio looks impressive, they have the right certificates, they walk the walk but do they talk the talk? You need to know from the offset how your coach is going to help you. Look for specifics rather than ‘fluffiness’. Will they help you in decision-making? Can they help you become more effective in your management? Look for the how not just the what!!
Measurement – we’ve talked about this before in previous blogs about training but it is SO important to be able to measure and evaluate, otherwise how do you know if it is working for you? Your coach should be willing to help you work out what your goals are, get you on track for reaching them and show you ways to measure you successes and also your failures. Sometimes we need to see where we are going wrong to get back on the right path.
Spark – when you set out to find a coach don’t just choose the first one you find. You are going to be sharing with this person so you need to be really comfortable with them and feel you can trust them. Make sure you interview any potential coaches or just meet with them for a coffee.
Taking these steps means you’ll be able to gauge quickly if they are the right one for you.