Mentorship works wonders in the business world, on an individual level, and company-wide. Businesses the world over reach out to mentors and coaches for experience and innovation. Mentors help businesses achieve their goals, sustain their growth, and live up to their potential.
However, among the thousands of business coaches out there, some are clearly better than others. Even a great coach might not be the right fit for you and your business. Finding the right business coach with all the right qualities can make the difference between a great investment and another setback. That’s why it’s important to consider several factors before choosing your next business coach.
Things to Look Out For in a Great Business Coach
Finding the right business coach can be tough, and the process requires time, trust, and effort. However, once you know what to look out for, you can turn the experience into a positive, boundary-pushing journey.
Experience in Your Industry
Businesses invest in coaches for their experience, so that’s the first thing to look out for in your search. Ideally, your coach arrives with years of first-hand experience in your industry and your discipline. Rather than simply possessing generic knowledge of sales or marketing, they’ll bring experience from your particular sector and therefore be able to understand the challenges you face fully.
Stories of Success
It pays to ask for examples of success and their achievements as a business coach. Multiple stories with perseverance and tangible results speak to a dedicated and effective business coach. Beyond simply reading their stories, it’s often worth reaching out to the business in question for some first-hand advocacy, too.
Warmth and Personality
Business coaches are people, and you have to work with them to achieve your goals. When you click with your business coach, you’ll find the whole process much more enjoyable and productive. Find a warm, personable business coach who you feel comfortable opening up to, and you’ll be on to a winner.
Realistic Expectation Setting
Promises, superlatives, and exaggerations are the tools of scammers and con artists, not successful business coaches. When you meet the right coach, you’ll outline your objectives and create a realistic plan with tangible timelines for achieving them. There are no guarantees in the world of business, or business coaching, so find a mentor who acknowledges that reality and offers realistic solutions.
Matching Your Mindset
Everyone arrives at worth with different priorities, values, and ethics. On your search for the right business coach, you’ll first identify yours, be they revenue, company culture, or customer retention, etc. Aligning these objectives with your business coach, and finding someone who shares your values, helps gel into a productive team.
Experience in Mentorship, Not Just in Business
Along with the skills required to be a great business coach, coaching itself is an important craft. Everyone remembers teachers in school who were gifted in their subject but struggled to impart those gifts to their students. The same goes for business coaching. As you get to know your prospective coaches, this becomes clear. From your one-to-one conversations, discussions with their colleagues, and recordings of their previous coaching sessions, you’ll learn whether or not they fit.
The Right Feeling
If you meet a business coach who makes you feel confident in their abilities and hopeful for your company’s future, they might just be the one for you.
