How to Get the Most out of Business Coaching

[Image description: As we can tell from this photo, where the words “shift happens” are spelled out in scrabble tiles, if our protagonist scrabble player had in fact meditated for a moment using the white peacock feather and tuning fork sitting next to the tiles, they would have seen the obvious 9-point advantage of adding a “z” by replacing the word “happens” with the more colloquial “happenz”. Unsplash.com]

Introduction

When you finally find and hire a business coach, it can be easy to get swept up in the fairy tale narrative where they are the prince(ss) riding on a white horse to save you. But the reality is that coaching is a relationship, and like any other relationship, it works best when both people are giving their all. Hopefully your coach is showing up with everything they’ve got (if not, time to try someone else). This article is all about how you can show up for yourself and your business so you can get the most out of business coaching.

Table of contents

1. Goals

2. Time

3. Courage

Goals 

[Image description: The single word “goals” appears on a sheet of paper sitting in a far too spotless typewriter. It seems the owner took this word to heart, got a computer, and hasn’t touched the typewriter since. Unsplash.com]

Start with clear goals 

If you’ve done the work to find and vet a good business coach, then you probably already have a clear list of goals. If you don’t have a list of goals or your goals have changed, it’s a good idea to get on the same page as your business coach about what you want to accomplish during your time working together. This is important because without goals it’s nearly impossible to know if the coaching is working.

Build in cushion with your goals

Similar to building in cushion with your schedule, build in cushion with your goals. Yes, technically it might be possible to write an entire book in 6 months if nothing else in life goes wrong and you don’t get sick or get busy with clients. But if one thing goes out of wack and it takes you down, your goals are probably too unrealistic. Like our friend and author Charlie Gilkey recommends in his phenomenal book Start Finishing, you’ll want to allow yourself time to accomplish your goals while also dealing with the natural ups and downs of life. This doesn’t mean you should play small or never be ambitious, but you’ll actually accomplish more if you have a sustainable pace to work at. 

Time 

[Image description: Three clocks each showing different times lead us to the existential question, “What is time?” The answer is evident: it’s time to stop buying new clocks. Unsplash.com]

Treat business coaching sessions as sacred time 

It’s easy to try to squeeze meetings in between other things in our calendars, but this is one of the worst ways to approach coaching. You’ve invested significantly in this work and you owe it to yourself to be present and available for the coaching. Build in time before and after your coaching sessions so you don’t need to rush. Make sure you’re not hungry or distracted. Close your browser tabs, turn off your phone, and take any other actions that will help you be fully available.  

Plan implementation time 

In addition to the coaching sessions, you’ll need to allow time to implement the advice your coach gives you. We suggest scheduling time immediately after a coaching session to integrate what you talked about and schedule your implementation time so you can actually accomplish what you want to. 

Courage

[Image description: The words “you got this” are featured on a rearrangeable board sitting next to a vacant phone and laptop. What at first appears to be a motivational message, may in fact be a Twilight Zone cry for help since the words rearrange into, “ghost, it you.” Unsplash.com]

Be courageously honest with your coach and yourself 

If you’ve found a coach you really like, it can be easy to want to please them. This isn’t necessarily a problem unless you find yourself skirting the truth or cutting corners as you rush to complete a project just so you can say you did it. Ultimately if you’re not honest with your coach (and yourself) about what you can and do accomplish, what’s getting in the way, what you’re struggling to understand, and what’s working and not working about the coaching relationship, you cheat yourself out of getting the most from your investment. 

You get out of it what you put into it

Everyone knows this one, but it’s worth repeating that you get out of your coaching what you put into it. No matter how dedicated a coach is, there’s no way we can make you care or do the work for you to sort out your business. And when you bring energy, enthusiasm, and dedication to the coaching, you’ll also inspire your coach and draw out the best from them. After all, it’s just like any relationship - the best ones have a full and earnest participation from both parties. 

Conclusion

We hope that this article has been helpful in setting you up for success in your coaching. It’s an amazing thing to invest in yourself and your business and your deserve to get the most out of it you possible can. Have you found other things that have helped you get the most out of coaching? Let us know!

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