Business Coaching - what is it, and how can it help me?

A business coach helps and supports an owner-manager to:

• Identify and solve problems.
• Reach goals.
• Design a plan of action and strategy.
• Make good decisions.

A business coaching relationship is a partnership, focusing both on the owner-managers individual needs as well as the organizations collective needs, goals and best interests.

How does business coaching contribute to organizational goals?

Our approach is based on a generic 5 stage change model which is applied both to organizational and individual development, and to strategic and tactical change. The 5 stages are:-

I.  The organizational situation.  The owner-managers perspective on the current situation is described and clarified.

II. The owner-manager's interventions.  The business coaching partnership of the business coach and the Owner-manager now turn to the actions taken or contemplated by the owner-manager

III. The owner-manager's relationship to the organization and its key players. The partnership focuses on the various interpersonal relationships, internal and external upon which the interventions depend. Options for moving some relationships on are identified and assessed.

IV. The owner-manager. In the course of assessing the various relationships, it is normal for some aspects of the owner-managers own posture and behaviour to come into consideration. Here, the quality and completeness of earlier executive coaching work is a strong determinant of the owner-managers own room for manoeuvre in these critical relationships.

V. The wider context. The focus here is on the organizational, ethical, social, economic, cultural and contractual context.

How does the partnership support the owner-manager in their own development?

The business coach stays with and supports the owner-manager to:-

• Create and implement a personal and organizational plan of action
• Maintain a healthy balance between personal and professional life.
• Develop the skills they need to move their organizations forward.
• Keep themselves "forward focused" to take advantage of opportunities
• Bring out the owner-managers personal best and hold their vision for the organizations future.

Having a skilled business coach as a still point and confidant to whom a owner-manager can regularly turn, during times of transition, is key to enabling them to improve their performance and develop the business in a coherent manner.

What are the outcomes and benefits of business coaching?

• greater, more sustainable results in less time: business coaching adds momentum and enables smarter, more effective actions to be taken
• greater clarity: business coaching helps the owner-manager to see clearly where they are, what the organization is calling for and what they want from their life and work, enabling them to align to their values
• better decisions: business coaching helps the owner-manager see more of the options available, have new perspectives, think through the impact of decisions, and develop and sustain their commitment to the decisions they make.
• stronger relationships: business coaching improves owner-managers relationships with others through helping them develop their interpersonal skills, discern others agendas more clearly and base their relationships on shared values.
• increased self-confidence: business coaching extends a strong personal foundation through healthier relationships out into the organization, to take control, gain better and more appropriate alignment and so to accomplish more.
  
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