I suggested that he adopt a less well known coaching tool called Transposing to help him work this through.

Transposing works by getting you to adopt another person’s viewpoint and ask: What am I thinking, what am I feeling and what do I want?

I asked the manager to think of one particular individual – let’s call him Doug. Transposing Doug made us realise that he was thinking “Oh God, what have I done wrong? If I’m being coached, I must be seen as underperforming!”

We also figured that Doug was feeling anxious and uncertain. His interactions with management at the company in the past had usually resulted in a ‘telling off’ in some shape or form. No wonder he was acting like a beaten dog and holding himself stiff until the next beating arrived.

The real revelation happened when we considered what it was that Doug might want. We realised that given his prevailing thoughts and feelings, he would want to get out of the meeting as soon as possible; with his dignity intact.

The real reason why Doug was so reluctant to get involved was now obvious and the manager and I were able to devise a way he could position coaching to overcome these thoughts and feelings. It happened that Doug was a massive sports fan and so his manager pointed out that Tiger Woods, David Beckham and so on were all incredible performers with very little wrong with their games, and yet these same people valued their relationship with their coach above all others. He also pointed out that sports coaches were rarely, if ever, better performers than there clients, but that this was not the point. This lead to Doug realising that coaching was not about his manager just telling him what to do, how to do it, and pointing out all his mistakes. Instead it was an opportunity for Doug to explore his working life and find ways forward in the areas he found he found difficult or frustrating. In fact at a subconscious level Doug began ‘transposing’ his boss, appreciating how difficult it must be to provide coaching to such a truculent group. This mutual empathy is a wonderful by-product of the transposing tool and I’m happy to report that Doug’s relationship with his manager is now flourishing.

By the way, another good reason for walking a mile in your coachee’s shoes is that if things don’t work out, you’ll be a mile away and you’ll have their shoes!!

Through weekly one on one coaching sessions, clients identify what is most important to them and align their thoughts, words and actions accordingly. Daily accountability for simple action items increases results exponentially. Having a life one loves starts with gaining clarity on values, enabling more meaningful choices and consistent actions. Coaching offers a tried and tested means for creating more balance, joy, energy, financial abundance, focus, and action in every area of your life.

Who Works with a Success Coach?

Entrepreneurs, business owners, leaders, sales professionals and people in transition are some of the people who typically work with a success coach. Regardless of their professional endeavors or place in life, clients have one thing in common: they are all successful, resourceful, and intelligent individuals who want to get even more out of their lives.

People hire a coach because they want more of something (money, time, happiness, success, freedom, etc) and/or less of something (frustration, tolerations, delays, regrets, etc). Thanks to the internet and web based teleconferencing, the best advice in the world can be shared from anywhere and at anytime. Another compelling reason people have for hiring a success coach: they are just unwilling to wait to get what they want. They now turn to an outside expert to help them get what they most want, in a healthier, more productive and sustainable way.

Successful professional athletes use coaching to win. Tiger Woods is one of the best, and yet he understands the value of having someone work directly with him, pointing out things he can’t see, encouraging and challenging him to achieve his greatest potential. Success coaching is like having a personal trainer for your life!

What will a success coach do for me?

First, a success coach encourages clients to set goals that they truly want to achieve. This typically includes both personal and business goals. Examples include wanting to work less hours, earn more profits, find the right employees, spend more time with the family, etc. Every client has their own specific and unique set of goals that they strive to achieve. The first step in the client-coach relationship is to identify these goals and then believe they are achievable.

Next, a success coach asks and expects their clients to do much more than they have ever done on their own. We all have TDD (time deficit disorder), but few of us realize that that a cure is available. The 80/20 principal states that 20% of our inputs generate 80% of our output. If you can identify the 20% of your daily tasks that generate 80% of your profit (income, revenue, etc) and then double your effort on those specific tasks, then you are well on the path to working less and earning more in your business.

Success coaches continuously help clients focus on specific issues and tasks in order to produce and achieve specific results. Success coaches don’t offer the “what to do”, they provide the “how to” by providing clients with the tools, support and structure to accomplish much more than they ever thought possible.

When you hire a coach, you are paying for an accountability partner, for information, advice, support, collaboration, strategies, continuous presence, energy, creativity, availability, not necessarily just time or the number of coaching sessions. You can get as much value from 15 minutes of coaching as you can from three hours of coaching; it all depends mostly on timing, openness, and synergy.

What should I look for in a success coach?

Success coaches want certain and specific things for their clients. Indicators that you have found a great success coach include someone that will help you have enough energy, happiness, money, wonderful relationships, joy, and feelings of success that get you easily through your days. Also, find one that will help you eliminate regrets and toleration of ineffective tasks and activities. Finally, search for someone that will hold you accountable while helping you create reserves in your life of everything including time, money, love, confidence, enjoyment, etc.

If you are searching for a success coach that specializes in business and entrepreneurial clients, you should seek someone that will help you get a clear financial and structural picture of where you’ve been, where you are currently, and where you want to go. Expect your business success coach to require a profitable business, operated with integrity, and that has the proper help to run the business efficiently and effectively. You will typically be expected to work “on” your business and not “in” it. A business success coach should want your business to succeed beyond your plans and to be more profitable than budgeted for while attracting customers without having to apply a great amount of effort. Finally, a business success coach should help you actually get pleasure from your business tasks and duties and have a great life too!

What should I do now?

If you truly want to maximize your efforts and your business success, it is time for you to consider the services of a professional success coach. The winners in business (and in life) don’t have to be ten times better than the competition; they only have to be a little better. Adding a dose of coaching to your life may be the prescription you need to take control of both your business and your life.

Eric Williams is the founder of the Get Ready to Win Network. Eric can be contacted at ericw01@yahoo.com or 928-255-5379. For more information, click here: http://ericwilliams.48dayscoach.com

To receive ‘coaching’ and to be a ‘coach’ are both very popular terms right now but they are both widley misunderstood. Coaching is ultimately about raising the levels of human performance and, as such, has connections with teaching, training, counselling and mentoring. However, there are subtle but important differences that we need to understand.

Essentially, coaching comprises two main facets. First it is performance focused. It is about doing the job as well as it can be done, hitting targets, getting results and doing the right things in the right way. Secondly,it is person centred which means that it is the individuals being coached who are seen as having the important insights. In the most fundamental terms then, coaching is not about ‘putting in’, rather it is about ‘drawing out’.

By using coaching we can tap into the huge reserves of talent and potential which lay dormant in most people. As managers, we can develop people without having to rely on passing on our own skills and knowledge, which may already be out of date. Without an ability to coach we are left to trust the tired old methods of teaching and instruction which are proving increasingly ineffective in the world of constant change to which we are all having to adjust.

When most people think about coaching, they think about a sports coach shouting and yelling at the players and trying to help them succeed without being directly involved. In sport,the role of coach is crucial in helping people perform at their peak, and even the most accomplished sportspeople such as Tiger Woods or Roger Federer still gain huge benefit from a good relationship with their coach.

The role of the organizational coach is much the same. Whether the coaching is delivered by a manger as a general part of their duties or by a specific coach, they will still be trying to achieve results through others. In thinking about coaching in this way we can see that there is great benefit to be had from having someone in the organization who has the skills and abilities to draw the best out of others. If it were possible to have everyone in an organization improve their performance by as little as one or two per cent then the results would be staggering.

Many organizations are now taking the power of coaching very seriously and appointing people to the specific role of coach. Whilst managers may have the skills and abilities to coach well they are often preoccupied with more task oriented matters and can struggle to find the time to coach effectively.

Increasingly we are able to tap into coaching outside our organizations. There are many small consultancies offering Executive Coaching, where top-level managers in organizations can have regular weekly or monthly sessions with a trained coach to help them work through their current issues. It can often be of great benefit to have a coach who does not work in the organization and who is, therefore, not involved in the same issues. Similarly, some people are now seeking the services of Life Coaches to help them work through personal problems, achieve goals and strike an effective work/life balance.

Whatever the context, we can see that coaching is intended to be a means by which one individual seeks to help another move forward and develop in some way.