better business blog

Tips and stories to add value to you and your organisation

Career Coaching Counts

3 December 2017

Do you value yourself? I do hope so!

Do you value your business and career as much? Maybe…

It’s lovely to see how many people now take themselves and their life and career seriously. When I started out as a business coach, nearly 15 years ago, there was a lot of ambulance chasing.

People were often sent to be coached because they had a problem at work. Coaching tended to be seen as a sign you were on the naughty step and needed to be straightened out. There was a sense that coaching was there to support the strugglers. 

Of course that is still true and yet there has been a sea change in attitudes over the last few years. Most of my clients are now individuals and organisations who want to grow and develop.

Coaching is seen as a great way to harness thinking and generate options, without being told want to do. The co-creative nature of coaching makes it an exciting and hopeful space to work in. It’s a good investment and one that makes sense in a competitive world.

As an example, I’ve been working recently with people to help them perform confidently at interview.

We tend to crash through life doing our best and yet there are times when we lack self awareness, or just need a friendly supporter to cheer us on and hone our performance for the big day.

Imagine you’re going for a job interview tomorrow. You arrive and find out you are one of six candidates. In conversation you find out that five of them hired a coach, whereas you simply dug out your CV and brushed your hair. How are you feeling now?

The same applies to sales activity, or the need to remain competitive. It’s a true statement to say that when we invest in ourselves we invest in our business. 

When times were hard, during the last recession, I had some coaching to help me and it paid dividends. As a result, I changed my business products and went to look for new clients and am still in business to tell the tale.

None of us have all the right answers all the time and all of us need support.

Career coaching counts because it adds value to what we do and how we project ourselves. 

Imagine you’re back in the interview situation described above. In conversation you discover you’re the only one to have worked with a coach and the other five candidates are all trusting to luck. How are you feeling now?

So this week take a moment to think about where you are frustrated. What problems you are wrestling with. Which options you are dancing around.

Then find a coach to talk to. Life is always easier when we have a supporter on our team!

Next week: A Killer Question!