Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Rich Sloan recently interviewed Dave Auker and John Jantsch on the topic of business coaching. I would like to solicit perspectives about business coaching from those who have been on the receiving end of coaching services.

What follows is a commentary from my personal experience of working with business coaches. I was one of the participants in StartupNation`s beta Coaching Program. It was primarily a group coaching experience (2 coaches and 7 aspiring entrepreneurs, in various stages of startup), and included separate one-on-one sessions to supplement the weekly group teleconferences.

I personally have good impressions to report from my experiences. To echo the business coaches, I have to concur that the scheduled format and accountability required was, by far, the greatest benefit of working with business coaches. The peer feedback and encouragement was also an unexpected advantage. I have continued to maintain contact with a couple of the participants and have undertaken some collaborative efforts beyond the scope of the original sessions.

From my experience, I would make several recommendations for what you should look for in a coach, and also mention a few qualities that you don`t need:

1. Structure

Expect to receive an agenda, a curriculum, a schedule – in writing, in advance.

Goals of your coaching sessions should be identified and agreed upon at the start. Ideally, the coach should have an established program created that has been successfully used and honed for maximum effectiveness. You should be able to identify measurable outcomes to document your progress and show results.

2. Assignments

Clearly defined action items should follow each call or visit. Coaching assignments should leave you with written plans, forms or documents, and lists of actions to take. At the completion of your coaching, you should end up with some finished presentation material that you’ve created and had reviewed.

3. Samples & Examples (not to copy, but to inspire)

Sample business plans, examples of excellent websites, sample logos that are well done, business names, suggestions of specific recommendations – seeing works that others have created will help you to develop your own.

A word of caution here – while it might be tempting to take the easy route and do a modified cut-and-paste of your material into someone else’s format, DON’T DO IT! Not because it’s illegal or unethical, but because it’s not creative. You do not want to create a cookie-cutter copy of what someone else has done. You want to use good samples as inspiration to create your own unique identity. Sure, it’s more work, but doesn’t everything worth having require extra effort? Refer to Rich Sloan’s podcast with Seth Godin on “The Dip” for additional thoughts on this philosophy.

4. Reference Resources

A good coach should refer you to recommended books, podcasts, web sites, organizations, and other sources of information, and tell you where to find requirements for your business processes (trademarks, patents, classification of your industry, how to find vendors, where to go to secure a domain name or set up a website, what financial data to track, receipts to keep, etc.) A lot of these requirements are common to any type of startup business, so it makes sense to take advantage of great resources that are already out there.

5. Success Stories & Referrals

It helps to hear recollections that tell you what your coach went through in his/her experiences – things they didn’t know and lessons learned. (It also helps to build rapport when a coach feels confident enough to share personal success stories [and an occasional failure] with you.) Enthusiastic tales of others who have “made it” are also a great inspiration. And good coaches should have a small storehouse of true life experiences on hand to illustrate their points.

Referrals or recommendations could also include a particular software program that worked well for their application, popular sources that are widely endorsed for your industry, or people they would recommend for professional services or for more specialized advice.

Beware of coaches who are reluctant to provide you with specific recommendations or who preface most of their advice with a disclaimer. They may seem to be presenting a legally unbiased opinion when they do so, but that’s not much help to you. They should realize that you understand they are just giving you their opinion, and that you are free to take it or leave it, and coaching advice is not a risky source of litigation and lawsuits.

6. Focus on you and your business

Samples, references, and stories are helpful coaching tools, but a successful business coach will tie them into the theme of your business goals. One of the most sought-after services that people want from a coach is someone to bounce their ideas off of, and someone to provide them with a reality check. You want a coach who will point out the gaps and weaknesses that you may be overlooking. And you want someone who will listen to your initial concept and tell you new ways to market or present it or combine it with a twist – adding a fresh perspective that you hadn’t considered. Of course, you, as a worthy coaching client need to be open-minded enough to hear and seriously consider the advice and suggestions that your coach provides. Otherwise, you’re wasting the opportunity and sabotaging the entire effort. Be receptive and add your feedback to their feedback. It usually takes some tweaking and some evolution when combining ideas and developing new directions.

Your coach should also make you an active participant in your coaching endeavor (not just treat you as a student). They should help keep you on track, help monitor your progress, and make sure you are covering your agenda. The coach should feel like a temporary partner & advocate, running alongside you until you feel confident to go back on your own. The two of you should provide each other with periodic feedback to let each other know what’s working, what you want to spend less time on, and what topics or techniques you want to have included. (This type of evaluation works best if you focus on “what you want instead” rather than discussing “what you don’t like”.)

7. Satisfaction Guarantee

A confident and competent coach should be able to accommodate your need to find someone suitable for your needs and learning style. A coach should check in along the way and follow up to assure that you’re meeting your objectives and that you’re content with the service and yes, the compatibility of your personalities. You also have an obligation to come prepared and participate fully in the process, and to speak up when there is an issue that needs to be resolved. Ideally, you should be able to have an initial consultation with your coach or get an introduction to your coach’s style from a group presentation or by experiencing some demonstration of his or her skills and style, prior to contracting for their services. But there should be a coaching alternative or a plan of recourse available if you have a bad match or other unacceptable experience.

4 Things That You Don’t Really Need from a Coach

1. Formal degree in business

You might hear others tell you to look for a coach who has academic training, credentials, and substantial years of experience in business. But I don’t find that to be a particularly good way to evaluate a coach’s potential. If a coach is well-read, knowledgeable, with good ideas, and has excellent teaching and networking skills, the MBA or years in corporate business won’t necessarily make the person a better coach.

Also, just because a person identifies themselves as a coach, (even if they have certification or membership from some coaching organization) does not mean they are a good coach (with or without the degree or corporate experience). The bell curve extends across all professions. Just as a license to practice law or medicine does not guarantee that you are getting a good lawyer or good doctor, someone with a degree in business or some sort of coaching endorsement is not necessarily a good coach.

2. Expertise in your particular field

People who are good coaches are good at coaching. They don’t have to be experts in your field. Transferable skills are more important – things like good communication, business planning skills, enthusiastic coaching with practical ideas, and providing direction to resources are more valuable than technical expertise (in a coaching situation). They don’t need to know everything if they know where to go to find out. Use technical experts separately, if your business calls for handling the details of your technical issues. Use the coach to help you focus on the big picture.

3. Niceness

This doesn’t mean finding someone harsh or cruel; but you don’t need someone who’s too soft on you. Think about your experiences outside of business. Who were your best teachers, dance or music instructors, or sports coaches? Probably the ones who had high expectations and pushed you to do more at a higher level than you would have achieved on your own. The same qualities make for a good business coach. You want objective feedback and suggestions; and you want someone who will tell it to you straight. You want someone who will provide motivation and drive and encouragement (like a personal trainer). And you want a coach who will challenge your thought processes and push you beyond your comfort zone.

4. Therapy Skills

There may be some people who value having someone to listen to them and understand their difficulties. But I think that action-oriented coaching yields the best results. I would avoid (or get out of ) a coaching situation in which you are frequently asked “So, how are you feeling about this so far?”

What about you? What skills do you value or look for in a coach?

Oh Denise, great post on coaching, if I can just add to your comments. Over the last several years, coaching has become more and more popular. To some people having a business or executive coach is a badge of honor. But many are finding that the advisers hired to solve problems only make matters worse. There currently are professionals from different disciplines making claims to be coaches.  They have been identified as former business executives, teachers, lawyers, MBAs, human resource professionals, and psychologists.  Therefore, the title of executive coach is defined in a number of ways, all depending on the orientation of the coach and the requirements of the organization. 

To date guidelines for coaching have been suggested by several groups, but there are few standards or guidelines that have been adopted.  Even with its growing importance, coaching remains an unregulated, poorly defined practice.  It is unlicensed and had been with no real predominate credentialing agency to set guidelines to identify competent and ethical practitioners to aid organizations or individuals when searching for a coach.  The ICF (International Coaching Federation) held a conference to establish a better understanding and also define executive coaching by developing a more comprehensive understanding of standards and practice guidelines. The ICF has now established ethical guidelines, core competencies, and how to select a coach, but still remaining is that ever-important element of having training in psychology. Another organization of interest in the area of business coaching is WABC (World Association of Business Coaches).   

There are two different attitudes expressed in the coaching literature regarding qualifications.  The first centers on the belief that psychologist should be the discipline to provide coaching since they already posses most of the skills needed and therefore are the most qualified. The skills of importance include the ability to respect confidentiality and also maintain objectivity in highly intense relationships.  Psychologists are the uniquely qualified professionals to define what is essential when behavioral change is the desired outcome. It is felt that psychologist have the ability to do the following: ensure safety in relationships, be able to address the executive’s reality of their behavior, the ability to identify themes in the executive’s life through developmental histories and test data.  Additionally, psychologists have the ability to understanding psychological tests, cognitive styles, managerial styles, motivational theories, and aptitude. Further, additional skills psychologist posses to provide coaching such as: listening ability, empathy, providing of feedback, create scenarios, and challenge the executive’s world.

The second position regarding qualifications is somewhat related to that of the first.  There are those that feel even with a psychological background is not all the necessary skills needed to provide coaching.  They feel coaches should have an awareness of business, management, and an awareness of internal and external political issues to truly be effective.  A successful coach can only take place if and when it is clear to the organizational leaders that the coaching process is consistent and also aligned with the organizations business realities.  It has also been suggested that coaches play four roles, which need to be clarified in the beginning of the coaching process.  Coaching roles have been identified as (a) skills focused on specific tasks; (b) performance on current job; (c) development of future role and job; and (d) things relating to the executive’s agenda. 

drbob