Do you know the truth about success coaching?

Myths, delusions, & truths

The Internet of Things tell you many things - not all of them true.

Before hiring a success coach, get informed, get educated, & make sure you get the best value for your time & money.

Myths

• ​​Anyone can be coached. Not! If you think you know everything, there is no room for learning or exploration of possibilities. Your mindset has a massive influence on whether you can be coached.
• Everyone knows what a coach is. Not! You might not need a coach; you might need a mentor, or a consultant - find out before you engage a coach.
• Everyone can benefit from coaching. Not!
• Your coach can coach you on anything. Not!
• You can't measure the benefits of success coaching. Not! All success coaching should have specific, agreed-upon metrics. What gets measured, gets done.

Delusions

• A success coach will save your failing business. Not! What a success coach can do, is help you to save your failing business - huge difference.
• Getting a coach guarantees business success. Not! You, as the business owner, is the only person who can work towards you business success.
• Your coach will instruct you. Not! You need a mentor.
• Your coach will find or implement solutions for you. Not! You need a consultant.

Truths

• Your business coach is not your friend. Read that again. It is not her job to be nice, to re-assure you, & make you feel better. Her job is to help you change what you don't want, to create what you do want. So - do you want a baby-sitter, or do you want success?
• Success coaching is a journey, not an event - it takes time for you to make the changes required for success.
• Everyone wants change, but few want to change. To get from where you are to where you want to be, means change. Setting, pursuing, & achieving your goals will change you, while it changes your business.
• Not everyone is coachable - they can't be coached unless they are ready & willing to change, to do the work, to take the actions necessary to effect the outcomes they say they desire.
• All coaching has a finite effective period. Perhaps 6 months, 1 year - it does not carry on infinitely.
• Your coach will challenge you, question you, hold you accountable. That's her job. She's not here to molly-coddle you. She's here to push you out of your comfort zone, closer to  higher levels of success.
• Your lack of success in achieving your goals falls entirely on your shoulders - your coach is responsible for coaching you, not responsible for your business success.
• Nobody expects 100% success all the time from surgeons and lawyers - coaches are no  different. Success is not guaranteed. Success is the result of your actions.
• You need mutual trust & respect in your relationship with your coach. No trust = bad relationship = failure.
• Your coach will make you uncomfortable, from time to time - it's his job. It shows he's being effective at making you think more critically about your business.
• Your business coach will focus on your successful outcomes, without being emotionally vested in them.
• To ensure that you get tangible value from your success coaching, agree on a metric before your coaching starts, that you can compare to your coaching results. ROI can be measure in terms of number of sales, revenue increase, number of new products developed, programs sold, time saved - make it real & tangible, directly linked to your business.  Of course, your return on investment is directly linked to your problem for which you engaged a coach. Quantifying the benefit is part of your job.

Once you have a realistic expectation, you're ready to engage a business success coach. Want to book an exploration session with me?

What myths & delusions have you heard about coaching? Let me know in the comments!