“I absolutely believe that people, unless coached, never reach their maximum potential.”
–Bob Nardelli, former CEO of Home Depot, www.entheos.com/quotes
Have you ever considered whether you should get involved with a professional coach (executive, life or business) but stopped before your initial phone call or consultation? Did you stop not because the problems or concerns that led you to consider a coach went away, but because you were stymied by the question of what a coach could possibly do for you?
Here, I will explain why a professional coach is essential to your success. Let’s start with a few basic truisms:
- No matter how much we have achieved, whether in business or our personal lives, there is always room for improvement and betterment.
- Even the most self-knowledgeable and perceptive of us reach a point where despite our talents and gifts, we want to grow but find ourselves stuck in some way.
- It’s always good to have another ear, another viewpoint, another perspective.
- We do better when we have someone cheering us on.
A coach will help you not only find, but apply and use, your strengths to guide you to your ultimate objectives. Opportunities arise and something inside of us may hold us back. Relationships fail and we become despondent. Our business is good, but could be so much better. This is the stuff of every-day life and the very type of dilemma about which a coach is trained to understand and lead you. Through careful personal intervention and guidance, by asking you questions and learning your strengths and weaknesses, the right coach will help you to unlock the door to achieving your dreams and your life’s purpose and to eliminate the impediments to reaching your potential.
A key ingredient that a coach will bring to you is her dedication to helping you. She is there for that sole purpose – to help you achieve your objectives. She will ask hard questions; often questions you never have been asked or considered before. These questions. and your answers, can be the very first meaningful step toward your success. A coach is going to help you discover what is holding you back: it could be fear of the unknown, fear of success, not wanting to compete or even an earlier failure that keeps you from taking the ultimate steps needed to move forward. But most importantly, a coach can support you through a REAL breakthrough and get you unstuck.
You will discover what you cannot do, what you do not do well, what you do not want to do and what drives and motivates you to success. In a business setting, these insights will help you drive your business in many different ways: spending more time on what has worked, eliminating what does not work for you, hiring people to do the things you hate or do not have the talent for, etc. In a personal setting these insights will help you figure out why you have not met or can’t keep the “right” partner, why you might want to change partners, or what you might do to improve an existing relationship.
It goes without saying that you must find the right coach for you. Remember, this person is not a friend, but a credentialed professional trained to deal with the toughest questions in your life. Here are some basic qualities you might want to consider when selecting your coach:
- Is the coach not only kind and perceptive, but also direct, realistic and honest?
- Is the coach smart and can she challenge your thinking and cut through whatever is blocking you from becoming the best you can be?
- Will this coach not say what she thinks you want to hear, but rather drive you to greater success and achievement by sharing the truth about your strengths and weaknesses with you?
- Does the coach offer evaluation, assessment, training and treatment that uncover the real you and give you a roadmap for the future?
If you can answer these questions positively, you have found the right coach. This means you don’t have to select the first person you consult. Rather, you must find the coach that fits your needs and personality.
I wouldn’t go through life without a coach of my own. I have been coached by many. I selected my first coach based on three things: she understood my vision, I was confident that she could help me through my personal journey and I trusted her on many levels. My many coaches have helped me in ways too numerous to count, perhaps most remarkably by encouraging me to be my true self and to develop and offer Neuro Emotional Coaching® my innovative and powerful way of coaching long before neuroscience or muscle testing were recognized as legitimate and successful coaching tools.
As a coach myself, I would be delighted to schedule a consultation with you to discuss the challenges and obstacles you may be experiencing and your vision and solution to those. Coaching is an awesome experience. Perhaps it is time you gift yourself that experience. There is no question in my mind that you will feel as I do: coaching is an experience you deserve and that will enhance your life in ways you cannot imagine.
