Leadership Development
There are many facets to business coaching, but foundational is developing leadership within the owners of the business. There are separate blog posts on our website about leadership coaching and leadership styles. The owner of a business is the “driver” of that business and as such has the capacity to either build or destroy the business. So we need to facilitate the owner of the business to develop their ability to build the business and not sabotage it. If a business were to grows to a point beyond the capacity of the owner to lead and manage, then it will be built on unsustainable foundations. Once the foundations to support growth are strong, then we proceed with other aspects of business coaching. One of our clients who has more than tripled his business since we began coaching, would readily admit that the person he was before we began coaching sessions, would not have been able to cope with the current business size and complexities.
Mindset
We may encounter many different mindsets that will be a barrier to succeeding in business. These may include:
- Limiting beliefs. If a business owner is plagued by beliefs such as “no-one in my family has succeeded” then that will hold them back. They will not be able to grasp a growth mindset. This is only one example of a limiting belief. This growth mindset is important. If a business owner does nothing to grow the business, then over time it will shrink as market demands change, clients age or retire etc. So, the business owner must always be evaluating how they might grow or change the business to meet changes in the market place. There are countless examples of businesses that did not adapt because a growth mindset was lacking. Now some of those business are in decline or may no longer exist.
- Trapped emotions leading to sabotaging behaviour. These may include fear, anger, rejection to mention a few. If they are not dealt with, they can lead to behaviour which sabotages success. I worked with a client who was unable to face conflict due to trapped emotions. In business there will often be conflict to some degree or another, after all, we interact with people all the time including team members, suppliers and clients. Thankfully this client was able to overcome this inability to face conflict and is building a successful business.
- Values conflicts can hinder taking the actions necessary to achieve a goal. They may be real or perceived. Some examples of how these have effected people are included in the book which is available for download from this website.
Goal Setting
Goal setting is important to give purpose and direction. Without them activity can become meaningless and without direction. We touch more on this later under business planning. Goals should be:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Resourced
- Time Bound
- Clear about the reasons why they are desired
- Contain the first three actions needed to achieve them
More information on this is included in the book which is available for download from this website.
Planning
Unless there is a clear plan for how to achieve the goal, then it is unlikely that it will be achieved. The Plan/Do/Check/Act (PDCA) cycle is a loop involving planning, performing, monitoring results and improving:
- Plan: identify the problem and possible solutions.
- Do: execute the plan and test the solutions.
- Check: evaluate the results and lessons learned.
- Act: improve the plan/process for better solutions.
- Continue the cycle for continuous improvement.
A coach may concentrate on particular areas that have been identified as high priority or they may over time assist the client to develop a business plan.
Business Plan
It is important that the client is involved in the preparation of the business plan and takes ownership of the actions needed. There is no point in having a business plan which just sits on the shelf. A business plan should embrace the concept of “Now, Where, How”. Imagine trying to navigate somewhere new with no GPS but having a street directory. If you know where you want to get to, but do not know where you are now, then the street directory will not help you. If you know where you are now, but do not know where you want to get to, then the street directory will not help you. If you know where you are now and where you want to get to, but do not have a street directory or GPS then you are still in trouble. People often want to get straight into the “how”. However activity without the co-ordinates of where you are now and where you want to be will be misdirected. These principles apply in a business plan. It must contain elements which will address where you are now, where you want to get to and how you will do it: So, bearing this in mind it may contain:
- A statement of the owners why.
- A vision statement (what do we want to be?).
- A mission or calling statement (what do we do?).
- The values (the non-negotiables).
- A history of the business and its current state.
- The key goals.
- A statement of the sustainable competitive advantage.
- A statement of the resources needed.
- Details of skills needed, leadership style etc in the internal team.
- Recognition of what the key relationships are.
- Marketing plan.
- Finance plan.
- Operations plan.
- SWOT analysis.
- Risk management strategies.
- Other.
Business Coaching by New Panoramas Coaching and Mentoring
New Panoramas Coaching has worked with different clients desiring business coaching. You may read more about the background and experience of Brett Golding in the book which is downloadable from this website. Here is a testimonial from Keith Morton of Innomation Pty Ltd regarding work we have done with him:
“New Panoramas Coaching has been significant in our business because of their commitment to working with the whole person rather than just on what the business needs. Brett is very gifted at digging into those areas that hold us back both personally and as an entrepreneur. Brett is trustworthy and respectful. I would highly recommend New Panoramas to anyone considering one-on-one personal business coaching.”