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See if any items on this list apply to you:

1. My business is exactly where I want it to be. I have enough clients, and the work is the type of work I want to do. Even if it is not yet where I want it to be, I know just what I need to do to get it there.
2. My family and close friends have all the answers to my questions and don’t have any conflicts of interest or time constraints in their lives. They feel free to give me impartial, honest feedback about my business without it affecting our relationship. I have made myself accountable to all of them and I feel comfortable divulging all the details about my business.
3. I have a stack of reports on my desk from consultants that tells me everything I need to know about my business. After they provide feedback, the consultants are continuously available to help me implement their solutions. Even if consultants have not helped me at all, I don’t think coaching can do any better.
4. I have an MBA, so what can a coach possibly teach me? I’ve always excelled so there is no reason I won’t succeed at this. I will beat the odds by myself. Coaches are for indecisive people who cannot solve their own problems and need somebody to tell them what to do.
5. I don’t need therapy, and I don’t want to talk about that stuff anyway. I’m happy and functioning well in my personal life. I just need more time to get my business off the ground.
6. It’s not that important to me to be successful. I don’t have the time that it would take to change things so I’ll live with it. Change takes too long and is too disruptive.

So how did you do? If these apply to you, you do not need to read on. Several of these statements, however, are based upon misconceptions about what business coaching is and what it does.

I don’t know many individuals and businesses who cannot derive benefit from business coaching, including presidents and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. It’s not a mark of failure or indecision; it’s an indication that you have high standards for excellence. Athletes have coaches. In corporate America, Forbes magazine estimates that more than $1 billion annually is spent on executive coaches.

A very common misconception is to assume that business coaching is simply a new name for something else, such as therapy, personal coaching, consulting or business education. Coaching is similar yet very different from each of these.

A coach does not help you to resolve your personal problems or traumas. The purpose of coaching is to help you improve your business performance, which is why it differs from life coaching or therapy. Therapists help you heal; coaches help you excel.

Although coaches may provide information, they do not teach you the basics of business or your industry. They assume you already are competent. Coaching takes a functioning person to higher levels of success. Coaching is not analogous to business school or getting any kind of degree. It’s not about obtaining a body of knowledge; it’s more about gaining hands-on skills for applying your prior knowledge to reaching your professional goals.

Coaches also are not there to give directives or make your decisions for you. They are guides and objective observers who work alongside you to define and implement a clearer path to your mission and goals.

If you commit to it, business coaching can take you from functioning to excelling.

Are you thinking coaching may be helpful? Comment or contact us directly at CHB Associates, LLC to discuss your options.