I would like to share how to properly leverage your coach. If you’re a business owner, an executive, a team member of a business, and you have a coach, I’m going to give you some pointers on how to leverage them. And if you don’t have a coach, you should have one because we all have blind spots. The coach is going to reveal those blind spots, and I always like to use the term, the truth will set you free. When you’re clear on a truth, then and only then, can you address it. I’m going to share with you six ways to leverage your coach.
Number one, when you hire a coach, set your intention. Create your goals of what you would like to get out of the relationship. Be very clear on what you’d like to get out of it, because if you just go into a coaching relationship blind hoping things are going to go show up, they just may not.
Number two, commit to the process. When you hire a coach, they’re going to go places that you haven’t gone before. They’re going to uncover things that you might be avoiding at this point in time or things you just don’t want to address on your own. So, you really have to commit yourself to the process because a great coach said to me 10 years ago, “Mr. Dill, you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be in the process.” Don’t get frustrated because you’re not where you want to be yet. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be. Commit yourself. Go through the process and things will turn up and you’ll get better each and every day.
Number three, get to know your coach. Coaching isn’t a theory. Your coach hopefully has been where you are going. As for myself, I had adversity in my life. I built my business from scratch over the last 11 years. I had to go through the same learning curve and hardships that many business owners are going through. Be sure that you connect with and get to know your coach to know they’re coming from wisdom and not just theory.
Number four, be open. Take your guard down. Listen, observe, and apply. By opening your ears while especially taking your guard down and really addressing the things you don’t know that you don’t know, things will open up and you’ll really attach yourself to the process of applying the things to make you, your organization, and your team better. The coach will have systems, strategies, and solutions. The coach most likely will have gained some wisdom over the years on how to be great. When I became a coach 12 years ago, all I did and still do is concentrate and investigate ways for me to get better and ways to help my clients their businesses, and their teams to get better. So that’s a tremendous amount of experience that you can leverage from a coach.
Number five, do the work. As I said, knowledge is not power. The application of knowledge is power. And again, as I said, you may be going into some uncomfortable situations that you on your own would not like to address. Your coach, if he or she is a great coach, they’re going to guide you to go where you don’t want to go because that’s where you get uncomfortable and you need to get comfortable being uncomfortable because that is where you grow.
Number six, enjoy the process. Leverage your coach. Having a coach is someone who’s going to have your back, who’s going to be authentically there for you in the good and the bad to address the things that need to be addressed to make you better so you can be better for your team, for your customers, and for your organization.
If you don’t have a coach, get a coach, however, make sure you do your homework in finding the right coach. Remember, you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be in the process. Search out and find a coach that you feel congruent with, that can guide you. If you get a coach way too far ahead of you or way behind you, that’s not going to be the right coach. Do your homework. But most importantly, if you’re an owner, an executive, a team, or a CEO, make sure you have a coach that authentically has your back that’s going to challenge you to be your best. Like many of the greats, whether they’re sports players or whatever field it may be, they’re great because they have great coaches.
COACH MICHAEL DILL is an Award-Winning Certified Business Coach, global speaker, and published author. He is a proud Action Coach Franchise partner as well as the President of Power & Ice Wealth Creation a strategic leadership company that works with business owners, leaders, teams, and entrepreneurs to both develop a systematized and structured organization while accelerating their mindset, efficiencies, and effectiveness to grow both personally and professionally to achieve extraordinary results. He brings more than 40 years of business and entrepreneurial experience in his leadership, team training, and mentoring practice. Businesscoachmichaeldill.com