What does a Business Coach really do?

When many people hear the word “coach”, they make the connection to athletics and sports icons. That’s not an unreasonable comparison.

In the 1960’s, UCLA had John Wooden. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady will be forever linked. Both coaches are legendary for bringing out the best in their players and teams.

In business and in sports, a good coach sees player’s/clients strengths, and trains him or her to build on them. He sees his player’s/client’s weaknesses and shows the them how to improve upon or compensate for them. She watches and listens for signs of struggle before the player/client is willing or able to see them. He illuminates blind spots the player/client is unable to see.

What is not the Coach’s job?
• To do the work.
• To run the plays.
• To make the sales.
• To hit the gym.
• To execute at crunch time.

If the Coach has effectively prepared his or her player/client, the work will be done well, the play will be executed as practiced, sales goals will be achieved, and the crunches in the gym will result in highlight reels on ESPN.

Coaches are motivators, educators, advisors, and sounding boards. Clients and players make the final decisions, execute the plays, close the sales, and hoist the trophies.

Business Coaches like Steve Hardison charge hundreds of thousands of dollars per year not to make a Chief Executive’s decision, but to offer objective 3rd party counsel that will help the Chief Executive make the right decision.

When a Fortune 50 corporation has billions of dollars and (potentially) millions of consumers on the line, you can bet the Board expects their C-Level men and women to consult with a Coach like Steve.

I work with small businesses nowhere near the Fortune 5000, and they need the wisdom and guidance of a Business Coach, too.

From making a key acquisition (or avoiding a bad one), to hiring the right new team (or properly firing an ineffective one), to scaling back unnecessary expenses (or scaling up investments that produce a return), my unbiased perspective is frequently the cleanest feedback my client receives.

In my role as a Business Coach, I walk my clients through a decision-making process that allows them to avoid the potholes in their path and find the best resolution to the issue at hand.

Good coaching is often the difference between completing a hastily assembled merger with a competitor that resultsin a major financial hiccup, and instead creating a new internal division that can ramp up quickly.

Or the difference between wasting $50,000+ per bad hire, and onboarding high-performers who make your goals theirs.

My clients allow me to sit in the Co-Pilot’s chair as we work together solve their organizational challenges. Let’s talk. Maybe I can make your flight a bit less turbulent.