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4 min read

The Art of Business Coaching Depends On Your Client’s Unique Situation

by Matthew Pollard
by Matthew Pollard | 
5 min read
 | Jun 25, 2015
  1. Home
  2. Business Coach
  3. The Art of Business Coaching Depends On Your Client's Unique Situation

It’s common for entrepreneurs and business owners to have a preconceived notion about the enterprise they’re entering.  Human nature and evolution has shaped our brains to work this way.

Table of Contents

It’s common for entrepreneurs and business owners to have a preconceived notion about the enterprise they’re entering.  Human nature and evolution has shaped our brains to work this way.

The truth is, reality doesn’t always function according to plan.

What you think will happen and what actually happens is often different.

Like the old saying goes, “there is a difference between talking the talk; and walking the walk.”

From my own experience, I began coaching with a similar mindset; I thought I had an idea of what was going to happen.  For instance, I had in my mind all businesses wanted rapid growth and bigger bottom line profits. Just like most things in life, I quickly learned that what I thought was going to happen was not exactly the case.

To help you out, I thought it would be valuable to cover some of the lessons I learned when I began coaching. My intention is to help soften the pain points you’re likely to experience in your early days.

One of the biggest lessons is that there is no “one size fits all” advice you can give to your coaching clients.  As human beings are all different, people tend to have different ideas and goals they are looking to achieve.  Believe it or not, not all people are primarily motivated by growing their business or their bottom line profit.

One small business owner might want to make enough money to take great vacations each year, another may want to increase their efficiency so they can spend more time with their family, while some other people simply want a consistent business that is easy to manage with their lifestyle. Never assume that you know what is best for your client without getting a thorough understanding of their desired endgame. This is perhaps the greatest mistake I made at the beginning, projecting my desires and goals in business onto them.

Another thing I have learned from my own experiences, as well as chatting with countless business owners, is that being at the top can often be lonely.

In many scenarios, business owners, or staff that have climbed the corporate ranks, don’t have many people to confide and chat with.  People often need somebody that will be there to listen to them and give them positive encouragement. It may surprise you to find out that for some clients, you are the only one.

In entrepreneurship, it’s quite common to have a lot of naysayers and doubters, especially amongst your friends and family.  Many entrepreneurs and business owners simply need somebody they can speak with, that will tell them they’re on the right track. That’s not to say you should tell them they are heading down the right path if they are not, however, you will find many times people shy away from amazing ideas just because all their friends, who have no idea what they’re talking about, say it’s risky.

It’s important to know that to achieve this, you don’t have to dominate a conversation. Many times simply listening to their stories and issues with a few guiding responses can help them achieve that light bulb moment. You will be surprised to learn  that for many business owners, just having someone that can provide an outside perspective can make all the difference.

I also found that a lot of business owners are their own worst enemy.  They often display behavior that limits their own company’s growth and development.  Good examples of this are business owners that believe they already know everything, that are scared to let others do important tasks, feel as though they must micromanage, or have an unwillingness to change or update a system because they know how to use the current one.  It is crucially important to break down these walls if they exist.

Nobody is ever too old to absorb knowledge and make change; learning is a lifelong process.  I always like to educate my clients about the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen – a person should always be looking for ways to continuously improve working practices and obtain personal efficiency.

Adapting and changing to stay in line with trends, technologies and best modern practices are often what keeps a business viable throughout the years. I have seen so many businesses fail to compete on price, quality and/or well….everything, simply because they refused to adapt as fast as their competitors.

What I have covered constitutes only a portion of what you will face.

Your role as a coach will vary based on the needs of your client.

Engaging each new client  and business with no expectations and without imposing preconceived ideas is the foundation that will guide your coaching business to have massive success with clients for the short and long term.

Would you like to dive deeper into this topic or your immediate personal challenges with me? If so, please book a free 30 minute rapid growth strategy session, by clicking here.

About Matthew Pollard

About Matthew Pollard
Called the real deal by Forbes, Matthew is a small business advocate, introvert champion, Rapid Growth® Coach, and keynote speaker. Responsible for five multimillion-dollar success stories before the age of 30, today Matthew is an internationally recognized sales and networking expert, author of the bestselling Introvert’s Edge series, and host of two top-ranked podcasts. His work has transformed over 3500 struggling businesses to date.

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