Hiring a business coach isn’t cheap – it’s an investment.  An investment in your career.  An investment in your life.  An investment in your relationships.  Ask anyone who has ever hired a coach and they will tell you it’s the best money they have ever spent to improve their professional and personal life.

A coaching client I’ve been working with for the past 6 months, admitted that he was skeptical about working with a coach.  A highly successful business leader, he was recently hired in an organization that provides  new executives a coach as part of their on-boarding process.  He shared that after the first few sessions he realized the value of business coaching and how it can help drive business change and results.  Rather than spending this first 6 months just trying to “figure things out,” together we crafted a strategic plan that helped him reorganize his division of 900 people and initiate much needed change to improve operations and efficiency. These early wins helped build credibility and trust with his staff and now they are highly engaged and moving together to achieve the division goals and priorities.

While more people are familiar with business coaching, many misconceptions remain.  Here are a few coaching myths dispelled:
Myth #1: Coaching is only for executives in the C-suite.
Truth:   You do not need to be at the top of the organization chart to receive the benefits of a coach. While I do coach many executives, I am also asked to work with directors and managers to accelerate their success and assist them with their goals.
Myth #2:  All coaching is life coaching and soft skills.
Truth:  The emphasis of business coaching is to develop business skills and increase competency to achieve better business results.  Often times these positive behaviors that are developed during coaching that also improve relationships outside a work environment.
Myth #3: Coaching takes too much time.
Truth: An hour of focused coaching can yield ten times the return.  Most coaching engagements start with identifying the goal of the coaching and the assessing what it takes to get there.  This will determine the frequency and cadence of the coaching sessions.
 Myth #4: A coach tells you what to do.
Truth: A coach listens more than she speaks.  And when she speaks, she asks questions to help clients direct their energy and actions to achieving their desired future.
 Myth #5:  Coaching is too expensive.

Truth:  Some companies will financially support providing a coach. Others leave it to the employee to pay for the coach but support the time away from the office to do the coaching.

Coaching is about improvement, growth and business success.   A coach helps clients leverage strengths, develop new skills and serves as an accountability partner.   Do you want more courage to change and more confidence to lead? A coach is worth every penny as they can help you get real results, fuel higher profits and transform your business – and ultimately, your life.

I’ve recently released on online course Step Up & Lead with coaching to help you become a more effective leader.  Learn more here. 

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