Business Coaching: Refining Agility & Resilience

Business Coaching Definition: Explore Business Coaching with Rebecca

There are as many definitions of business coaching as there are business coaches. The important thing is that you and your business need to play a very big part in defining the business coaching relationship too. Gone are the days of top down ‘this is how it is done’ businesses approaches. A good business coach’s first question should always be “what is it that you need from me?”. This way each and every business coaching definition will be different for each and every business it works with.

The business coaching definition provided by Business Balls is so wide that it is worth working with this element from their description of life coaching instead:

“strongly facilitative, not imposed or prescriptive”

That this is a great place to begin the business coaching relationship. The reason that the qualification I gained was in “Life, Business and Executive Coaching” was that the same, wide variety of interventions are applicable in every sphere. Whilst the interventions remain constant, it is the nature of the questions that differ in each realm. Therefore the nature of the answers generated will be equally diverse.

Honesty

I will be honest with you. If you are seeking someone to tell you how to run your business then business coaching is probably not your route. If you wish for instruction then I would advise you to find a business course or an industry specific business mentor. There are plenty of excellent mentors around to assist you.

Autonomy

If however you wish to learn to develop your own solutions to you business quandaries then this business coaching relationship is one to cultivate. In learning to develop your own solutions, you can gain autonomy and the ability to coach yourself through difficult times. In learning how to access your own wisdom you will be enhancing your responsiveness to the cultural changes that you face. Whilst some of the business challenges faced by someone very successful in your industry sectors 20 years ago will remain the same, many will be vastly different: Your customers need will have changed, the market will have varied, the influence of technology on accessing of and on the expectations of your customer will be entirely different. The speed with which business operates is increased ten-fold. So whist the same principles of providing ‘a widget to meet a need’. and the ‘building the relationships with your customer’ remain the same, the channels for achieving these aims are constantly on the move.

Entrepreneur, Sole Trader or SMO

This means the you too need to be one the move. Business for the entrepreneur, the sole trader and SMOs will always have it’s ups and downs. Sometimes however, external influences can wipe out a trusted market in ways that simply cannot be predicted. We are more than merely businesses that trade with customers. We are all part of a far bigger context than this bi-fold relationship. Our bottom line is influenced by culture, by politics, by Brexit…. These things may well feel out of our control. The best thing we can do is arm ourselves with the skills to respond swiftly and appropriately to whatever they bring to our business doors. Business Coaching helps you to develop agility and business resilience within transformative times.