As national leaders in business advisory services, we’ve seen the benefits of business coaching first-hand. While there are many obvious gains to be made, there are also more indirect, nuanced benefits that business coaching can bring to a company.
Whether you’re planning a start-up, or you’ve taken a hit this year, business coaching has something to offer you as a leader. In this article, our business advisers at BDO Taranaki have covered five benefits of business coaching which may not be immediately apparent.
1. Improved Self-Awareness
Business owners can get so focused on the business as a whole that they forget to examine themselves as a key part of it. Self-reflection and self-understanding both help build insight and are both valuable skills for any leader to have.
By being able to understand your own strengths and weaknesses, you will be able to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of others, along with a deeper comprehension of how they see you. The ideal leader should be able to reflect on their own perceptions of others and understand why other people make the decisions they do. Otherwise, you run the risk of making mistakes, not understanding why or how they happened, or even failing to recognise that they happened at all.
2. Better Goals
Sometimes, we focus on the same goals for so long we don’t realise that we might be heading in the wrong direction. Some external expertise can help refocus your business’ goals, keeping them relevant for your business and for the constantly changing environment we’re operating in. It can be hard for business owners to grapple with the idea that their goals could be driving the business anywhere but success. However, if you’re not getting the results you want, and you’re not achieving those goals, they may need to change.
This is much more normal than people realise—even the most-seasoned business veteran can benefit from outside eyes now and again. Business coaching is a way to access this kind of assistance from a source that you know has your success in mind. You don’t need to worry about the criticisms being unfounded when they’re part of an ongoing professional collaboration.
3. Increased Appreciation for the Value of Teamwork
Running a business isn’t easy, and no one manages it without at least a few hurdles. What’s more, being a business leader often means playing multiple roles and this can be overwhelming. For many leaders, business coaching is the first experience they have with sharing the pressure and responsibility of their role, since most businesses only have the one leader.
Suddenly, so much more seems possible! While business coaches won’t fix all the issues you’re facing, they can help you find alternative methods for tackling these issues and create solutions that wouldn’t be possible to implement alone.
This has the added effect of giving leaders a new appreciation for the value of teamwork within the business, and ensuring the right people are performing the right tasks—playing to their strengths.
4. It Keeps You Accountable
Every business owner has a to-do list. This is relatively parred for the course. Running a business is time-consuming, but it’s only one aspect of your life, so there will never be enough time to finish everything.
Keeping up with the most important items on your list is vital, however, so being able to manage your productivity and prioritise your tasks is important. Procrastination can affect everyone, but a business coach can help you keep you motivated and accountable and break ineffective work habits that you may have formed without noticing.
Consider this; by sharing your responsibilities with another person, they don’t have to reside only in your head, giving you back some mental bandwidth which you can apply to completing more of the jobs that you need to get down now.
5. Boosts Self-Confidence
This one is often overlooked, and something that a lot of business executives are unlikely to talk about. It doesn’t matter how successful you have been in the past; when faced with difficult times, anyone can find themselves feeling less than. It’s very possible to start doubting yourself subconsciously, and this can affect your decision-making process without you even realising it.
Chances are you could be taking a lot more risks than you are, but on a deeper level, you’re worried about what may happen. This lack of self-confidence can be a death sentence for your business, as it leads to stagnation. Learning how to overcome self-doubt and overthinking takes time, but a business coach makes it much easier, as they can help ground you to reality and offer a fresh, outside perspective.
Confidence is the foundation of any leader—without it, inspiring people to follow you is a tall order. Business coaching is a great way to help you take a step back and re-evaluate whether you’re being too hard on yourself.
Looking for help with your business?
Here at BDO we have a wide range of services, offering business advice that’s reliable and accessible no matter what your business is in New Zealand. If you’re finding that you’re falling short of your goals, or you’re unsure what your goals should be, an independent review from BDO could be just what you need. Get in touch with our team today!