Nobody likes being told what to do.
You don’t have to be a neuroscientist to understand this. It’s just part of the human experience: once someone gives us a specific task and tells us we must accomplish it, our desire to do the task almost completely evaporates. Even if it’s something we wanted to do in the first place!
One-on-one business coaches are all too aware of this little quirk. So when a client seeks help to meet their business goals, we recognize there is more power in facilitating coachees to come up with their own journeys and their own ideas.
What is One-on-One Business Coaching?
A coach focuses on helping the client with the disconnect between what they know they have to do and what they’re actually doing.
For example, if you ask a mortgage banker how to be the best at their job, they can spew off a whole list of things that will take them straight to the top. But when you ask them if they’re doing any of those things themselves, the answer is usually “no." The coach’s job is to help that client figure out why they don’t do those things, and how they can begin to do so.
Herein lies the difference between coaching and consulting. Consultants tell people what to do. Coaches believe that everyone has the ability to figure it out all on their own.
Business coaching is not one-size-fits-all. Instead, coaches work with coachees to tailor the experience to them. A good coach helps you design your own reality, instead of trying to force someone else’s on you.
What You Can Expect From One-on-One Business Coaching
As the industry norm, most business coaching is done over the phone. Many coaches conduct a personality assessment, which helps you and your coach understand more about yourself and what motivates you.
Once you and your coach have analyzed these results, your coach may guide you to focus on a few areas of improvement. Some of these areas will be business-related, i.e. increasing production. Some areas will be personal. At Rewire we believe that your personal life absolutely affects your professional life.
After the personality assessment, your coach may use other tools to assess your current habits and then help you develop new routines. One of the tools we use at Rewire is the “Why Tool,” which creates a reflection of your current path and your vision for the future. The Why Tool ties these two realities together.
Another tool coaches use are activity logs. These logs are used to track what you spend your time on. When you see your activity laid out in front of you, you see a clear story of what you choose to do… and what you choose not to do. Armed with this information, you and your coach can identify why you’re choosing to do some things and not others. From here you can create a plan to reallocate your time into more productive channels.
Ultimately, one-on-one business coaching is about your mindset. Learn more about a mindset coach. It’s about learning why you want to do something. When you have a clear purpose behind your work, you suddenly have the motivation you’ve been lacking—and probably craving.
Why You Should Try One-on-One Business Coaching
Now, you might be wondering, “How exactly will business coaching benefit me? Can’t I just set goals myself and work to achieve them?”
The answer to that is: absolutely you could, but it is very likely you won’t. As we mentioned earlier, most people know what to do already but they aren’t doing those things. If you set goals for yourself, who’s holding you to them? Who’s making sure you achieve what you set out to do?
This is why coaches recommend having a regularly scheduled call between you and the coach. The frequent calls keep your eye on the prize. Also, sharing your goals with someone who also wants you to achieve those goals drastically increases the odds you’ll accomplish what you set out to do. You can’t back out, which means you have to push forward.
So yes, you may be able to coach yourself. If you’re interested in coaching yourself we have a downloadable guide for you below. But with a coach's help, not only will you understand yourself better, the path to success will become clearer.
