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Small Business Coaching: A Tragedy & Triumph in 5 Acts |
This is the story of Pam, Tom and Lesley, three small-business coaches who start off with similar ambitions but different destinies. They’ve been qualified for a few months and are meeting to catch up. Let’s eavesdrop…
Act 1:
Enter our three protagonists to sit at a Starbucks table under the spring sunshine. Pam is smiling and buys coffee and sandwiches for all three. Tom and Lesley look a little downbeat.
Pam: Here you go guys. Really great to see you again. How’s it going?
Tom: Ah, you know how it is. Tough times. Coaching isn’t quite what I was expecting! Businesses have got zilcho money!
Pam: Really, sorry to hear that Tom. I’m sure it’ll get better. How about you Lesley?
Lesley: Not bad, Pam. Got a couple of clients although it’s mainly free work. One of them swaps services with me and massages me once a month. (she smiles ruefully) At least I can’t get stressed!
Tom: What about you Pam?
Pam: So far, really great. (she beams) In the last three months I’ve picked up four pretty big clients already…and I love it.
Tom: What! Really? How come? Read more
Filed Under From the Director's Chair
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case study #4 How the practitioner’s belief can influence the client’s results |
This case study is quite an important one for our person centred NLP approach, especially regarding the fourth of the six Sufficient and Necessary Conditions for change inspired by Carl Rogers: That the practitioner believes unconditionally that their client can change from within. It also illustrates very well the NLP presupposition that says “you can’t not communicate”.
I’ve got a client who is 81 year old and wants to lose weight. She’s an absolutely incredible woman and has got an amazing energy and joie-de-vivre. In her quest for happiness, she’s decided to fight her binging pattern and to get fit. I must say that she’s not binging much and generally eats healthy food, but she feels she’s not in control of herself in those situations and that saddens her. After having checked that the changes she wanted were ecological, we started to work using different NLP and hypnosis processes. Read more
Filed Under Transformational Coaching|
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How business coaching differs from traditional coaching |
Coaches never give advice, right?
Well that has long be the mantra of the coaching world.
But in fact, like most things, it’s never quite that simple.
And in coaching, nowhere is this more true than in small business coaching.
Coaching is fundamentally a person-centred approach to change – in other words, it seeks the answers in the client themselves rather than through advice from the coach. But that’s coaching in its purest form. And it’s perfect for self-discovery and uncovering the hidden depths which once revealed will lead to change, motivation and action.
But like sports coaching, business coaching is a blend of this uncovering process with a healthy dose of clear-sighted expert advice based on the knowledge and experience of the coach.
Business coaches will bring to bear their knowledge of marketing, sales, social media, systems, financial nous and more to offer their clients rapid results and long term sustainable growth.
The traditional approach will play a crucial role in the first instance of business coaching as the coach seeks to help the client understand what they really want to get from their business. And it may play a role again if the client gets stuck emotionally through fear, loss of motivation or lack of clarity.
But predominantly, the bulk of small business coaching will be focused on very specific pieces of work around understanding and improving the business model, the marketing, the services and products, the sales process and the way the business handles money.
All in all, the world of small business coaching is a big leap from the transformational place of person-centred coaching and requires a whole new set of skills.
If you’re interested in becoming a small business coach, discover more at: Rapid Results Business Coaching.
Filed Under From the Director's Chair
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