For entrepreneurs and new business owners, there are few things as invigorating as growing the company.
However, along with the excitement of invention and innovation comes a number of challenges. While many people starting a business could have management experience, few have had the need to address all of the issues typically faced when growing a business to success.
CEO Coaching
Entrepreneurs can benefit greatly from an executive coach. Starting a business with a new product or service takes a certain talent.
However, learning how to manage a business is a completely different skill set. Yet, it is very essential in order for the company to enjoy any form of success.
Statistics have shown that many new business start ups fail due to a lack of focus. Since the direction must come from the top down, the CEO is the driving force of any company’s success.
Therefore, special attention must be paid by the CEO to using effective management techniques.
The Coaching Job
Because of the structure used by a coach, CEOs, particularly new ones, can find that it is far more beneficial to engage a coach over a consultant.
Typically, outside business professionals may be able to help determine what is being done wrong in a business environment, but few can help the CEO or management team discover what fundamental issue is causing the problem to begin with.
Unless that is addressed, the same problems are bound to resurface, again and again.
Entrepreneurs hire business coaches to work alongside them and help to discover which areas must be addressed and then address them in a timely fashion.
Clients are skillfully advised and empowered to discover their own unique solutions rather than being offered a standard printed form of solutions.
Additionally, the coach will review and advise on solutions that are most ideal for each unique business and management style.
Process
Coaches help clients clarify and focus upon visions, goals and issues. However, understanding the business culture that a company operates in is also essential during the coaching process.
This is necessary so that the coach may ask challenging and thought provoking questions to guide clients toward breakthroughs.
Some the the issues and challenges that face a new CEO:
- Increasing personal productivity
- Identify and maximize core strengths
- Overcoming barriers both real and imagined
- Developing unique value propositions for competitive advantages
- Creating action plans for faster goal achievement
- Learning new strategies for better business and personal performance
- Increasing profits, income and revenue using less effort
- Identifying new growth opportunities
- Mitigating threats
Leadership
A newly minted CEO may also come across leadership and HR issues. Often a CEO really cannot turn to existing staff members to help with issues they themselves may be involved with.
An outsider, with the added bonus of experience can help a CEO:
- Anticipate problems and overcoming them before they become HR disasters
- Improve job satisfaction while maintaining high staff productivity
- Define metrics for monitoring performance
- Improve staff, client and peer relationships
A professional coach can help to guide small businesses at every stage, whether dealing with a new business start-up, growing pains or inexplicable inertia. Engaging help early in the transformation to CEO can create an invaluable relationship.
The coach can function as a confidant, sounding board, mentor and cheerleader — all rolled into one. This is what makes an executive coach so valuable to any business entrepreneur at any level.
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/centralasian/8153859237/
