Are you a professional athlete? Or a performing artist? Chances are good that you don’t fit into either of these categories so why, in the normal course of your life, would you need a coach? Well, not all coaches go to work in a jogging suit or leotards. There is a whole new category of coaches out there ready to motivate and guide you down the path to success. Today, you can hire a coach to help you achieve your personal, family and business goals. Coaching provides the support and structural mechanisms that are needed to help you focus on your priorities, remove barriers and learn from your own experience. The ideal coach will listen to you and challenge you. They will also encourage you to take control of both your professional and personal life so that you can strike a healthy work/life balance.

What can you accomplish while working with a coach? If your goals are personal, coaching can help you:

-	Clarify priorities
-	Deal with personal problems that are interfering with productivity
-	Determine career direction, strategy and income goals
-	Establish and achieve personal goals including ones relating to relationships, health and spirituality
-	Help you create daily habits to support your goals

If it is professional assistance you seek, a coach can help you:

-	Clarify your business mission, goals and strategy
-	Communicate effectively in the workplace
-	Cope with difficult co-workers and employees
-	Develop leadership skills
-	Increase productivity
-	Make better decisions
-	Tap into hidden strengths

Why hire a coach? Well, coaching is different from seeking advice from a consultant, a therapist or a friend. Consultants usually offer answers to specific problems. Therapists help you understand and deal with the anguish of past problems. Friends typically lend a sympathetic ear. Some describe a coach as part consultant, part motivational speaker, part therapist, and part rent-a-friend.

How does coaching work? Coaching is normally done privately though not always. Professional coaches typically conduct an initial face-to-face meeting. Then, most of their work is handled over the phone. Following the first meeting, a coach can begin to develop a plan for you to accomplish your goals as well as set up a structure for working together. You can expect coaching fees to range somewhere between $250 and $1000 per month if you average one session per week. Highly specialized coaching can approach $2,000 per month and may include several face-to-face sessions and 24/7 on call availability.

What to Look for and Where. Coaches typically have a specialty – career, relationship, business, etc. It is best if they have had some coursework in their area of expertise as well as some training in psychology and counseling. Though coaching has been recognized as a profession since the late 1980s, coaches are not licensed by any state or national agency. They do, however, typically belong to organizations such as the International Coach Federation (ICF). This organization offers a free coach referral service so you can select one that will mesh with your specific needs.

A Business Coaching Success Story. The value of a business coach is documented by a recent article in Illinois Realtor Magazine. According to this article, Dr. Fred Grosse, a clinical psychologist and renowned business coach, has dramatically improved the life of many realtors and insurance agents around the world. Dr. Grosse uses a sports analogy to explain the importance of business coaching. “No one at the Olympics got there without a coach.” He continues on to say that you need a coach to be a superstar in the business world as well. Dr. Grosse coaches in a group-setting and covers topics including: reframing thought patterns, focusing, establishing a morning ritual, and establishing systems within our businesses. A single realtor from one of his group sessions claims to have increased the number of transactions made from 43 to 95 during the course of a single year. Not bad!

To hire a coach and be successful, you must have at least one goal that requires you to grow and improve as a person. You must also be committed to achieving your goal and willing to try new things in the process. Regarding your coach, it is imperative to select one that not only has the appropriate experience, but with whom you feel mutual respect and trust. Your coach must be equally committed to your success. And remember, you are hiring someone to motivate you, so enthusiasm is a must as well. No matter what type of coach you select, you can bet that you will reap benefits in many facets of your life.

We have coached many businesses to increased performance, if this is one of your goals for 2004, it’s not too late. Give us a call today!