Whether you want to improve your team leadership, it is always beneficial to get professional guidance on how to proceed. It helps with the development of your talents and provides you with clear and proven guidance on how to build your team quickly and successfully.
Hiring a business coach can give you the tools you need to succeed while trying to build your firm. A skilled business coach may provide you and your company with essential systems, expertise, and relationships that can propel your company forward. On the other hand, a terrible business coach might accomplish the exact opposite. A good business coach may help you grow, while a lousy coach might have the opposite effect. You don't want to squander your money and effort on business coaching that is ineffective. Here are six mistakes to avoid when choosing a business coach. 1. Not Finding a Personality Match Your coach's previous outcomes may have been outstanding, but if you and your coach do not have a solid relationship, you may not be able to obtain a successful result from the coaching. Both of your ideals must be compatible, and they must be able to comprehend your objectives on a deeper level. Finding a coach with whom you have a good relationship improves communication efficiency between you and your coach. Before choosing a coach, take the time to see if you and the coach have a strong chemistry. 2. Hiring Someone With Insufficient Experience Having several years of experience in the business field increases their chances of helping you grow your business. There's no harm in hiring a coach who you think can help you with your problems just because they have more experience than someone else. On the other hand, a business coach who is less experienced than your problems could be a waste of your time and money. A good coach must be able to solve your problems effectively. If your problems extend too far into the business field, you should hire a coach who has more experience or at least has some experience solving your problems. 3. Hiring a Coach Without a Reference Check A good business coach can be the key to your success, but how do you find the right coach? You have to find someone who will be a good fit and with whom you can communicate well. Before hiring a coach, ask around. Ask your friends, family, and business associates if they know anyone who is a good coach. Using your network can help you find the right coach for your problems. If you don't have any past business coaching experience, you should do your research and check out the profiles of different coaches who you think will be a good fit. The more information you have, the better a decision you'll make. Looking up reviews of coaches on social media can also be beneficial. You should also check the business coach's background to ensure they are qualified to help you. You don't want to hire a coach without knowing the credentials they have. 4. Not Knowing What You Want to Get Out of the Coaching Before you start any business coaching, you should always know what your goals are. What kind of result do you want from the coaching? What do you want to achieve? You should always be clear on your goals and your expectations of your business coach. A business coach should help you handle your problems and give you advice on how to solve them. At the end of the coaching, you should be able to know what you learned from your business coach and how it helped you grow your business. That said, you should always be clear on what you want to achieve from the coaching. If you don't know your goals and what you want out of the coaching, it can be difficult to know whether the coaching was successful or not. 5. Hiring Someone With Limited Connections A qualified business coach can help you get in touch with people who can help you grow your business. A coach with a good network of contacts can help you grow your business effectively. For example, you may want your business coach to help you get more clients for your business. If your business coach has a good network of contacts, they will be able to find you opportunities and clients that you didn't know about. Before hiring a business coach, make sure they have a good network of contacts. If a business coach can help you get in touch with people who can help you grow your business, they can be a good fit for you. 6. Hiring a Friend Hiring a friend or family member as a business coach may seem like a good idea, but it's not wise to do so. Because you know each other, the coaching will be lacking in professional distance, and you can lose the ability to view each other objectively. Even though friends and family can be good to talk to, you may not get an objective opinion from them. This may reduce the effectiveness of the coaching. The Bottom Line A business coach can be a great source of help as you try to grow your business. If you don't need to grow your business but want to improve yourself, then a life coach may be better suited to help you. To find the right coach, you should avoid these common mistakes and hire a coach who can help you achieve your goals. Are you looking for an executive coach in Australia with a people-first leadership approach? Stuart Andrews can help! With over 20 years of program management experience leading complex projects, he knows what it takes to drive successful initiatives and motivate people to perform at their best. Check out his book for further insights, or schedule an initial call with him today!
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Spearheading a business brings a deep sense of pride, but while you're the person driving, your leadership skills may sometimes fall short. Making mistakes is only part of forging your own path as a figure in business. However, not every business owner becomes a good business leader.
The essential difference between being an owner and a leader is the state of mind. Ownership is synonymous with possession; however, leaders think about others and the surrounding environment. Entrepreneurs may have the strongest motivation, but motivation can only take you so far without skills. Without a leader, a business will struggle in defining a clear strategy, lose direction, and fail in building high performing teams. Why Hire a Leadership Coach? Being a leader is not easy, as there are many responsibilities, duties, and decisions involved. However, leadership is not only about having the ability to make decisions, but the ability to influence, engage others, and to lead by example. These skills must be developed and constantly adapted by those who wish to become successful. Furthermore, coaching can help entrepreneurs become more effective leaders that steer their companies to success. The process of coaching is a catalyst for leadership development. A good coach can challenge your beliefs, identity, purpose, and values. They can help you see situations with a different perspective. The Pivotal Role of a Leadership Coach in Your Business Benefit #1: Leadership Coaching Enhances Your Performance A business coach helps you get clarity and direction in your business operations, so you can be more effective and efficient in your business. The coach will help you to develop strategies to handle day-to-day issues that affect your teams, such as resolving conflicts or managing projects and personnel. You'll learn how to effectively motivate and inspire your team members, even when things are not going as planned. Coaching can help business leaders make better and informed business decisions, prioritize work efficiently and build organizational alignment. It also helps business leaders identify negative patterns of behavior to develop new and positive habits. A good leadership coach will help you create a positive culture and environment for growth. Benefit #2: Leadership Coaching Empowers You A business coach can be like a personal trainer. They will not only give you the tools to succeed as an entrepreneur but also empower you as an individual and a leader. Coaches can give you a sense of inner strength and confidence in your abilities. They can help you to develop your leadership skills, enhance your leadership qualities, and improve the way you manage your enterprise. Not to mention, a leadership coach can identify your leadership style and help you build stronger self-awareness which is core to effective leadership. Benefit #3: Leadership Coaching Gives You a New Perspective A good leadership coach will look at your business with a fresh set of eyes and help you to see things in a different light. They can allow you to distance yourself from the day-to-day activities of the business and reflect on your role as a leader. When you get a new perspective, you'll start looking at things in a new light, like you were looking at them for the first time. A fresh perspective will enable you to see things from different angles and identify the things that are hindering your business and what you need to do to overcome those challenges. Benefit #4: Leadership Coaching Gives You Confidence When you're feeling stuck and don't know what to do next, it is hard to make progress. A leadership coach can help you by guiding you to the next step. They can help you identify your strengths, set realistic goals, and together create a game plan to reach your objectives. More importantly, a good coach will help you believe in yourself. You will get the confidence to leverage your strengths and talents, and you will become more receptive to feedback, knowing that your achievements are a testament to your hard work. Benefit #5: Leadership Coaching Gives You Satisfaction as a Business Leader The biggest benefits that come with leadership coaching involve a sense of fulfilment and the ability to enjoy personal happiness from your business. When you're not feeling good about your job, it's hard to find joy in the things you do. With the help of a good leadership coach, you will be able to find fulfilment in your work, and it will no longer feel like work. As a result, you'll feel a greater sense of satisfaction. The Bottom Line: How can a Good Leadership Coach Take Your Skills to the Next Level As a business leader your goal is to keep your business growing. To do this, you may need to take on new responsibilities and improve your leadership skills. At times, it seems apparent that you need to do something different to achieve the results you are after. You may not have considered coaching as a solution, but it just might be the solution you're looking for. Coaching can help you achieve clarity and direction, empower you as a leader, and enhance your performance as a leader. You'll feel a greater sense of purpose and you will gain a new perspective that will enable you to see things from different angles. If you're ready to start taking your business to the next level, then consider hiring a leadership coach. Are You Looking for an Executive Coach in Australia? If you're looking for a coach who can help you to achieve the results you've always wanted, then you have come to the right place. Stuart Andrews offers business leadership coaching in Australia, and we would love to help you to achieve the results you have been seeking. When it comes to dealing with both leaders and team members, it's all about creating a solid level of trust in order to keep day to day operations smooth and efficient. You will find that alignment, transparency, and productivity will all be improved when you can bridge trust between different stakeholders and levels in your workplace.
A good leadership program will put building trust and relationships at the forefront as the foundation of your management and influence. Whether you are working to a senior executive leadership role or already leading teams and seeking innovative ways to connect with your team members, you must take some essential steps to foster trust in the workplace. Provide Support and Constructive Feedback Leaders need to be pillars that other individuals can rely and lean on. It is imperative you establish a support system that advocates for and champions the team. Not only does this mean backing up your team members and uplifting team morale, but also being able to give consistent feedback that can legitimately help each individual grow. The key is being constructive and mindful so that whatever feedback you provide is actually helpful and doesn't end up discouraging or turning people away. Being a supportive leader is two-pronged. Team members should be able to rely on you to support their endeavors and protect them from work friction, and you should also be the go-to source of wisdom that can effectively call them out on mistakes and provide them with productive ways to move forward. Be Communicative and Available The last thing you want is to create a distance that makes you seem unreachable. With so many different channels for communication today, it can be difficult for leaders to stay on top of every conversation and message being sent in every direction. However, you need to find a way to keep open and transparent communication channels including making yourself available should anyone need you. One executive leader at a large multinational enterprise always set time aside in his calendar that could be booked by the team as required. It's also about being active on various communication channels so that you are always approachable when your people need you. Set an Example With Your Own Actions You simply cannot expect people to listen if you don't walk the talk. This is especially important as employees are more attuned to the culture they expect from work. Just as you expect them to fulfil their roles, they will keep an eye out to see if you are fulfilling your role as the leader. Set goals for yourself and follow through, be a positive example, and carry yourself in a way that demonstrates high self-respect and genuine care for the people and work around you. If people want to emulate you, they are more likely to accept your leadership role. Monitor Yourself to Avoid Micromanagement Micro-management is often a trait of ineffective leadership, and it can be a downfall for those who are trying to establish themselves as competent leaders. When you micromanage everything, you lose focus on your main duties as a leader: to effectively monitor and maintain your top priorities, support and grow your team, and delegate when appropriate. While you are meant to guide and assess everything that goes on, you don't want to hover too much and get into every person's minute actions. This not only hinders the productivity of your team members but will also unnecessarily increase your workload. Create a System for Conflicts When you're in a leadership role, you will have to address conflict at some point. When you are leading your own team, this can be especially tough to deal with, as you don't want to come off as harsh or biased in any way. Rather, you want to create a system where conflicts are approached in a structured, consistent, and fair manner. If you don't, conflicts can quickly escalate and cause even more significant work friction leading to poor individual and team performance. Therefore, consider how you want to approach these scenarios before they happen and help the team be proactive in obtaining constructive feedback from peers. Provide Avenues for Employee Growth Employee growth is more than just your basic training and development plan. It's about providing a series of avenues for people to grow and be challenged with higher levels of responsibility. A good program will give employees the autonomy to try out new projects and ideas while also giving them the security of knowing that you and the organization have a vested interest in employee learning and growth. Actually Get to Know Your Team It's easier said than done, but you should be getting to know each person on your team and the role that they play. There will be some who you connect with more than others, but don't make that the basis of your relationship, as it should be based on respect and teamwork. This doesn't mean you need to try and be friends with every person on your team. It's just about understanding the nuances and responsibilities of each team member, personality and circumstances so that you can make the appropriate decisions as needed. In addition to having the insight needed to delegate, you also have a better perception in the eyes of your team members when you show that you care. Empathy is key to great leadership. Nobody wants to feel like they are just a nameless cog in the system, so getting to know your team helps significantly increase employee engagement and the overall employee experience. Be Transparent Through Highs and Lows Finally, you must be transparent as a leader. This obviously doesn't mean you lay all the cards out and throw sensitivities out the window. It just means being upfront and honest with the dealings that affect the workplace. Whether you're having a good or bad day, being transparent as a leader is important because it shows that you can be trusted and, in turn, you trust your team members. This is essential when trying to create mutual trust that will help build high performing teams and unite the team. Conclusion Building trust is a must if you want to succeed as a leader in your company. Executive coaching is not only valuable but essential as it will help provide you with an external perspective to develop your leadership skills and practices so that you can build a long lasting relationship of trust with other leaders and team members. When you invest in this process, you increase the value of your contribution to the organization immensely and thereby reap benefits of increasing employee engagement and overall company profitability. Stuart Andrews, the author of “The Leadership Shift: How to Lead Successful Transformations in the New Normal,” is the number one trusted advisor and executive coach in Australia specialising in helping executives and business leaders drive successful initiatives and building high performing teams. Schedule your 30-minute discovery call now and eliminate complexity from your business challenges. People who work together often will not always see eye to eye. They may have different perspectives and ideas even disagree on essential matters. While it's impossible to avoid conflict, the good news is that the right kind of conflict can lead to incredible results.
Unguided leaders make poor decisions, develop less innovation and struggle to make their teams work effectively together. Hence it is essential to know how to efficiently manage conflict. The key is not to try to stop it but to harness it to develop new strategies in your company. The key to handling conflict, as with the relation between others, is to offer increased expertise in the position of an executive coach. Executive coaching is a process that helps a leader gain insight into their leadership style and gains new skills. It involves a coach who meets with a leader regularly to help them evolve. Coaching is also a powerful way to develop collective leadership, where team members support each other in pursuing higher performance levels. Coaching is an excellent tool for helping leaders work together to solve challenging problems by encouraging them to think 'outside the box and to see different perspectives. Since every leader is different, the coaching process can be customised and therefore seen as a two-way street built around specific outcomes. Coaching tools and techniques come from various sources, but the most successful methods can be distilled down to simple, actionable ideas that help you improve your leadership skills. Below are some actionable insights into how executive coaching can help foster a more productive and harmonious work environment. Here's what you need to know: Gain Insight to Triggers of Conflict Priorities One of the best ways to help manage conflict is understanding the triggers that make you more likely to respond negatively to a situation. For example, one of the most common triggers for conflict is a feeling of being ignored or overlooked. For a leader, it's easy to fall into the trap of assigning a lot of work to one person, not giving them a chance to deliver, and then getting frustrated when they don't complete the work on time. The emphasis here is often on the leader to be more patient and review the overall prioritisation of work in collaboration with the team. Develop Better Communication Skills A saying goes, "People are how you communicate," and it's true. How you communicate with team members will significantly impact how they feel about a situation. The key is to make sure that you're clear about what you're trying to communicate and then use an open and straightforward approach to communicate that message. For example, if you have a team member who misses deadlines and is always late to meetings, it's essential to communicate so that it doesn't make them feel like they're being attacked. Instead, try to focus on the problem at hand and give the team members buy-in to fix the problem together. Make Conflict More Productive Conflict is an inevitable part of life. It can be destructive or it can be productive. In order for it to be productive, it must be managed with empathy and put in context. It's important to remember that conflict is not always bad. In fact, it can often lead to positive change. However, it's important to handle it correctly so that everyone involved feels respected and heard. When conflict arises, we need to take a step back and assess the situation. What is the root of the problem? What are each person's goals? How can we best achieve those goals? When conflict is approached in a constructive way, teams can often come up with better solutions than if it was simply avoided altogether. Become More Observant Being observant can help you identify triggers before they arise, assess the entire situation, and then find a way to work with the person involved to arrive at a better solution - one where both of you can benefit. By being aware of your own triggers and the triggers of those around you, you can take steps to avoid or diffuse conflict before it becomes too heated. Taking a close look at an issue can help you find better approaches to correcting the matter. As an example, if you observe that a team member is unproductive and relationships are becoming bitter, reframing the situation can be used to turn it into a winning outcome. Examine the problem from a different angle, then try to come up with a new solution that will work for both members. Some common triggers for conflict include: being ignored or dismissed, feeling belittled or disregarded, being left out or excluded from a conversation or activity, and feeling like someone is trying to take advantage of you. If you can become more aware of these and other potential triggers, you can work to avoid them or head them off before they lead to an argument. Learn to Be More Approachable Many people assume that a leader needs to be authoritarian and assertive at all times to get better results. However, this isn't true. When it comes to managing conflict, one of the best things you can do is to be approachable and open, which will help you build a stronger relationship with your team members. If you find out that team members are having difficulty, don't be afraid to offer your help. In an identical way, you should also be open to the fact that you are not the only one with the answer and that it is necessary to listen to the opinions of others. The Bottom Line Conflict is often inevitable, but it doesn't have to be negative. It can be one of the best ways to help you and your team get better at what you do. Instead of avoiding conflict, embrace it, work with it, and learn to manage it. As a leader, it's vital to help your team members grow and develop. Coaching is a great way to foster this growth, and it will also empower you to work together more effectively. Whether you're working with a professional executive coach or a mentor, it's important to remember that managing conflict is about improving your communication, seeing the bigger picture, and getting buy-in from your team members. If you are looking for an executive coach in Australia, Stuart can help you. Stuart Andrews provides leadership coaching to support executives, and business leaders drive successful initiatives. At the same time, he aims to help your teams consistently perform at the highest level. Book a complimentary discovery call to get started! To learn more, pre-order Stuart’s new book on The Leadership Shift - How to Lead Success Transformations in the New Normal now. |
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March 2023
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