Tweet

Could a Coach Get You There?

Guest post by: Barbara Garro

Article Overview: You know what coaches do for athletes. You've heard what they've done for the rich and the famous. What about you? Have you ever thought about partnering with a coach? Barbara Garro spent the time to graduate from both Corporate Coach University and Coach Training Institute. Why? Corporate/entreprenerial coaching entails complexities personal/life coaching does not. Why else? Business people have personal lives and I wanted to combine my skills so my coaching clients get Work-Life Coaching or Life-Work Coaching. Garro coaching is all about getting you where you want to be when you want to get yourself there.

Could a Coach Get You There?

Today's time-pressed high achiever finds it's not so lonely at the top when they use a coach. Partnering with a confidentlal ally just greases your road. More and more, people are hiring personal coaches to smooth out the potholes on the road to success.

Think about how it would feel to have a coach watch over your progress with an empathetic heart and a wise mind. You can see why it could make sense to hire someone to professionally listen to your ideas, visions, and problems with an attitude of support, objectivity, and non-judgment.

Here are some benefits people discover in a coaching relationship:

1. When your blood boils with ideas and you want to do everything all at once, your coach reins you in so that your goals become possible in a priority hierarchy.

2. You have guidance making the hard decisions, choices and personal changes necessary to achieve your goals.

3. Your coach forces you to look at what does not serve you so you can see more clearly what's blocking your success.

4. Your coach is your personal spotter, tracking your success, making you accountable, and helping you use your time productively and profitably.

5. Your coach is your sounding board for what's driving you nuts, helping you think through solutions so you can reduce the distractions that cause mistakes and bad decisions.

6. With your coach you can say what's really on your mind without sugar-coating, pulling punches or feeling guilty.

7. With a coach partner, you have two minds, two sources of inspiration, two pools of creativity, and twomethods to bring into view the problems that get in your way.

In a coaching relationship you'll find that you take yourself and your goals more seriously. And why not?The nearly 100,000 coaches in the United Statesask you to investbetween $200 and thousands per month. Speaking for my own coaching practice,on average clients stay with me between three and eighteen months.

Athletes and artists have historically used coaches to keep improving. Champions are constantly pointing themselves towards a more successful future and their coaches are helping them do what they need to do to get there. Success-motivated individuals from all walks of life are finding coaches can get them where they want to be, as well.

If you know what you're doing isn't working, you know you have to make chages. As busy as you are, you've read some books. tried tapes, and maybe attended a seminar or two, but you still feel stuck. The problem with these aids is you are on your own, no feedback, no accountability in a one-size-fits-all methodology. With a professional coach you are regularly checking in. That's why a coach can move you from the talking stage to the taking action stage more rapidly. Coaching is personalized, in your face weekly conversations, actively listening and asking you thehard questions. The professional coach lifts your blinders, and gives you the courage to see deeper and wider. That's why a coaching relationship can get you where you want to go three times as fast with about half the pain.

It's easy to get myopic around your own problems. A coach with simple objectivity can give you an idea that you know is the right way to go as soon as you hear it.It's so spot-on, youwonder why you didn't see it or think of it yourself.

That's what coaching is all about, gaining an objective mind and being held accountable. Being coached is also about discovering what's important to you and blowing away everything that gets in the way. With a coach you set goals, make commiements, and report weekly on your progress. If it takes a step-by-step action plan to do it, you and your coach will create a realistic one you can live with.

If ou're wondering if coaching sounds like consulting, there are similarities, however, there are also remarkable differences. I have consulted and coached in my careers. Consulting and therapy are relationships where professional experts fix what's broken while coaching partners to polish people. Consulting and therapy tend to be dependent relationships while coaching leads to independence where a satisfied client becomes self-directed. A coach helps you find your own solutions while a consultant is more likely to provide solutions. A coach looks at you as a whole person while a consultant is involved only in your work life. In addition, the coached client is more likely to own and benefit from solutions they have discovered through the process of being coached. Finally, coaches operate more positively than critically. The idea is to help clients see their srtrengths, deal with their weaknesses, seize their ooportunities, understand what is important to them, and make their decisions accordingly.

Understand,coaches can be ruthless when you get too soft on yourself. You can expect your coach to ask you the soul-searching questions you won't ask yourself:

If you feel pulled in eight different directions, why aren't you setting limits and boundaries?

What good do you get out of all the money you're making if your life is so out of balance you're not having any fun?

Why aren't you making changes if working nights and weekends still leaves you in the red?

Why are you still a bank vice president if you really love buying and selling collectibles?

The idea here is to have someone in your corner to point out your wins, advantages, and options while also playing devil's advocate to alert you to the downsides and disadvantages before they can harm you.

Peter Drucker, quoted in Inc. Magazine, says, "It's amazing how few people know what they are good at. What comes easy one tends to disparage. If it comes easy, value it. One thinks that what comes hard is more valuable because you have to work at it."

Why rip your fingernails scratching up your success mountain when you can drive up with a coach and enjoy the trip?

Related Articles
  What do Barbara Streisand and Tiger Woods have in common?
  What Can I Expect From a LifeBusiness Coach
  The Top Ten Reasons to Hire a Coach
  Business Coach – An Effective Guide For Small Businesses
  Taking Charge of Your Life
  Why Is Business /Life Coaching So Popular
  How to be a Better Workplace Coach
  More Business Coaching Tips and Results Why Hire A Coach
  Business Success Coach
  What is a Business Coach
  Improve Your Life How to Hire A Coach
  How To Pick the Right Coach For You
  Does Life/Business Coaching Really Work
  Is Coaching About Getting Things Done?
  What Do You Need, A Mentor Or A Coach?
  Mr. Spencer
  What should my sales team expect from a successful Sales Coach?
  What Can Small Business Coaching Do for You?
  “The Top Ten Traits Of A MVP (Most Valued Professional) Business Coach”
  Areas in Business Coaching for Post-Retirement Career

Article Tags: Barbara Garro, Business Advice, Change, Coaching, Confidant, Consulting, GoalSetting, Quality of Life, Success, Vision, Working Smart



Related Forum Posts
Re: Business Coaching Resources - You're fortunate when you can find a Business Coach who has experience beyond where you've been and even where you are going. When your budget is slim and even after, it's good to have a mentor. Several of various backgrounds are very useful. They can be teachers, professors, pastors, business people, family members, bosses and former bosses. You have to be clear on what you want and what you desire to achieve, be able to convey it as simply as possible. Stop and listen and don't over tax their time. You should always expect results whether from a Business Coach or Mentors. If you're not gtting results, you're either not focused or you need to upgrade the quality of your mentors/coaches. Always surround yourself by people smarter than you.
Post subject: Too successful for a mate? - That was an interesting article, Shri! Most of the women I know who continue to be single have some type of self limiting behavior which interferes with them either meeting or attracting the perfect mate for them. They are incredible and talented women, they just haven't set themselves up for relationship success. I know there are men who may be intimidated, but there are also men who aren't. Some men are attracted to smart women! My advice to these women would be to focus on creating the right environment for a relationship to happen. This would be a great time to hire a Life Coach or Relationship Coach. Taking action to get ready for a relationship doesn't mean having to be aggressive in finding a man. It's more subtle. If you don't make room for a man in your life, you might just squeeze out the opportunity before he gets to you. As well, you may be sending off all the wrong signals without realizing it. Seriously, I don't think successful women are off the proverbial "good wife material list". However, if you think yourself off of it then don't be surprised if you fulfill your own prophecy.
Re: Want to be a published author? - Thanks for sharing some options out there for us, Ladies! I'm one of those people who have a number of books in the works, but haven't quite finished them yet... I think I need to bring this up with my own Coach, but that's another story! *LOL* Anyhow, it's nice to know what I can do about it all when I'm ready. Shri, I'll keep you in mind when the time comes! Thanks again, Tami
Re: How To Succeed With Search - At this point, I lean towards "organic" search engine optimization. Last fall, I stretched my advertising budget and purchased a plan to put my website on the top of 15 search engines for the key phrase, "Life Coach". The only catch was that the person must have downloaded a specific popular tool bar on their computer in order to access it (several million had). The company was able to prove to me that close to a 1,000 people per month had seen the actual top part of my website open on their tool bar. They captured the IP addresses to prove it. Just previous to that, I had undergone some search engine optimization using key words and removing my heavy graphic intro page. Not long after I made the purchase for the tool bar advertising, the search engines had crawled through my updates and I was suddenly number one on Yahoo and number one on Google for Women's Entrepreneur Coach. Other key word variations were high enough to be in the top ten. I did notice that these results would shift rapidly and I was required to keep my website updated. Right now, I've been attempting to target Women in Business and Leadership. I've got a bunch of changes to do to get back up where I want to be, but now I know how to do it. Anyhow, as I watched the results of my paid advertising, I realized the organic method drove far more traffic to my website. I submit articles and post on Forums so some of those factored into the "organic" search engine equation. However, even without those, very few of the tool bar advertising ever clicked to see more of my website. I plan to stick with the "organic" method.
Greetings From Destiny's Door - Hi Everyone, Thanks for the invitation to introduce myself. I'm looking forward to being part of the discussions here. I called my business "Destiny’s Door Coaching" because I believe you already have everything it takes to create the business of your dreams. The door to your destiny stands always open. The choice is up to you. I work with Business Women and Entrepreneurs who want to create a life and business that matches their true potential, while still allowing them time to do the things they love most. I support them as they discover how to work smarter and not harder. I coach because I am passionate about seeing women achieve amazing things when they fully accept their own greatness. Business really gives women a great opportunity to express their passions and purpose in a way that also brings financial rewards. I believe you are highly important as the foundation of your business. As you grow and unleash your true potential, you enable your business to do the same. In fact, I'm doing that personally through my own business. I coach women and write articles inviting women to step into greater personal success. As a Certified Life Coach with a Degree in ministry, this is a perfect fit for me. On a personal level, I believe in living fully alive and making the most of every moment. I even have my own Coach! Of course, life is always a work in progress, but I keep moving forward. I do this happily in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of B.C. with my husband and two feline companions. Anyhow, I look forward to meeting you through the forum where we can challenge and inspire each other to really grow towards our full potential. Let’s really commit to creating the businesses of our dreams. I’ll meet you at Destiny’s Door! Warmly, Tami


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

What Type of Business Should I Start?

3 Competencies of Leadership

Four Secrets to Earning Income as an Author

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.