How do you pick a business coach?
Good hair. But jokes aside, you want someone who is put together, because how you do anything is how you do everything.
Interviewee profiles: Founders and C Suite, age 32-42, high growth companies over $10,000,000 in revenue with visions of a more human business world…In their words…
Disarming. They need to be able to put you at ease, because you need to be very unfiltered with them.
Experienced. Older than you. Not wanting to be age-ist here, but. It’s not necessarily about age, but someone who’s been there, done that, in an area … someone who either has tangential competency, or greater competency parallel with yours.
You need someone who has more experience than you have in your domain of expertise, or someone who has experience outside of your domain.
Fun. You have lots of deep and dark conversations with your business coach, so you need someone you can drink wine with.
Teachable Moments. Someone who has clear methods and frameworks and they are able to articulate complex concepts simply in a way that you can understand. Someone who has good stories.
Been there, done that. Has worked with lots of previous clients, can pull on expertise from been there, done that situations. It’s real life experience.
Engagement. Someone who has a flexible engagement agreement that is appropriate to your stage of business and place in life.
Whether they’re being paid in equity or in fees, it’s that they’re invested in the future, not the present.
Adaptive. They have the ability to react and keep working with you as things change on different arrangements.
Let’s face it, the entrepreneurial journey, one thing, it’s not as predictable.
Emotional Intelligence. Someone that can read you, understand where you are, and unpack things with.
Connections. Your business coach should have people at their fingertips that they can refer you onto if they hit a block in their own expertise or if there’s a strategic benefit in doing so.
Humility: You need to get a sense from them that they don’t know everything, and they know they don’t know everything, but they have the willingness to find someone who does if something that comes up which is out of their area.
If you counted… it’s 11… see it as a bonus!
Next>>> What do you get from a great business coach?
I mentor and coach business executives, business leaders and business founders through the growth journey. I’ve been doing this for 20 years. I love being able to help people with great visions who have built the foundations of a business take it where it needs to go next.
Sometimes it’s pitching, other times it’s an internal issue or it may be simply the very real need for a sounding board and an ear that understands what your journey really is like.
If you are ready to be mentored and coached by me, book a time with me at Mentor and lets get started.