Why business owners benefit from coaching

I love working with business owners and founders, as these roles can often be extremely frantic day to day. Coaching sessions provide clients with the space to consider themselves as well as their role within the organisation they lead.

As clients progress through a coaching programme, the sessions provide them with an anchor in their schedules where they can explore their thinking with a completely external sounding board. It is a classic situation that people at the top of an organisation often find themselves in. They spend so much time working in the business and dealing with a mixture of tactical, operational and strategic issues that they have little time to detach, take the helicopter view and consider the impact things are having on themselves.

Creating space to think

Within the coaching programme, I personally ensure there is time not only to look at the professional decisions or situations clients are facing, but also to explore the personal activities, goals and relationships outside work that need focus and attention.

Personal priorities are often the last items on any busy professional's to-do list. However, if neglected, they can have a significant impact on long-term health and wellbeing.

At the beginning of our work together, I ask clients to generate ideas about the areas they want to work on, both professionally and personally. After this initial exercise, which many tell me they have never previously made time for, we identify the critical few in both areas that they want to focus on.

This prioritised document then becomes a roadmap for the coaching programme and can be adapted whenever circumstances change.

Seeing the bigger picture

The role of any senior leader or business owner is like walking a tightrope, balancing the needs of themselves, their family and friends, colleagues at work and the overall business strategy they are responsible for.

Keeping all these elements healthy at any one time is a skill, so together we develop tools and models to help systemise this wherever possible, ensuring each area continues to move forward.

Collaborating with a coach is normally a short-term arrangement, so my personal aim is to equip clients with the mindset, techniques and processes they can continue using long after our work together has finished.

Between us, we discuss new habits and ways of working that clients can trial and build into their routines so that, over time, they become more effective ways of leading.

Holding clients accountable for trying new approaches, or handling stakeholder relationships differently, is one of the key roles of a professional coach. Often, accountability is the biggest benefit clients report after working with a business coach.

Helping leaders enjoy the journey again

Supporting a business owner or leader is extremely rewarding when they begin enjoying the role again. As they start working smarter, they often develop other members of their team too, delegating more effectively, empowering others and creating positive change throughout the organisation.