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#EXECUTIVE COACHING

Executive Coaching For Entrepreneurs: Why You Need a Coach Now

BY
Andrew Langat
October 23, 2024
Session on executive coaching for entrepreneurs
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In today's world, it feels like everyone and their dog has an executive coach. This makes sense; with so many great services available for all conceivable aspects of modern business, there is something for everyone.

This might be off-putting to some, but the best executive coaches are a proven part of business success.

The popularity of executive coaches is due to one fact: executive coaching delivers results. The best coaches help business leaders break through limitations and succeed in the corporate world.

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Pillars of Executive Coaching

The crux of this hinges on the core pillars of executive coaching services. These pillars cover a lot, but you can see the most important areas here.

Areas relevant to a budding entrepreneur:

  • Leadership Skills
  • Business Development
  • Resilience and Wellness
  • Transition or Change Management

Each pillar caters to a different aspect of personal and business development and executives can choose what to invest in.

Above all, executive coaching for an entrepreneur or business owner is a close and confidential relationship between the two that maximizes personal and professional growth for the entrepreneur.  

Despite this, many find it difficult to accept the services of an executive coach.

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Why Seek a Executive Coach?

Entrepreneurs are notorious for being single-minded and doing things their way, but an executive coach can help them fine-tune their leadership abilities as their business grows.

Accepting professional guidance is an exercise in intellectual humility,  an indicator of intelligence. Furthermore, an executive coaching program allows executives to make informed decisions leading to long-term success.  

Executive coaches help business owners achieve goals through tailored guidance, introspection, and actionable insights.

These methods have been proven to work, and you can grow from an entrepreneur concerned with day-to-day operations to a leader fit to lead in the long term.

To further emphasize the power of executive coaching or working with a business coach, we must explore how it helps entrepreneurs become better corporate leaders – and by extension, how it can benefit the entire organization.

How Executive Coaching Helps Entrepreneurs

There are limitless ways business coaching can help entrepreneurs. It helps entrepreneurs become better leaders and stewards of their businesses.

To drive this point home, here are some specific reasons for an entrepreneur to invest in executive coaching:

1. Enhanced Leadership Skills

Executive coaching helps business owners become better leaders by offering personalized guidance that builds and reinforces key leadership abilities.

These abilities could include:

  • Emotional Intelligence
  • Self-Awareness
  • Strategic Thinking
  • Conflict Resolution

Through one-on-one sessions, executive coaches help entrepreneurs identify their leadership strengths and areas of improvement.

With this approach, entrepreneurs improve leadership abilities in a wide variety of ways. Additionally, a long-term partnership with an accredited coach will help the entrepreneur adapt to a business's changing leadership needs, leading to better strategy and ongoing growth for the company.

2. Improve Business Management as a Business Owner

Setting up a business and running it are two different things. Most businesses fail because of poor strategic planning and management across the organization.

In simple terms, a business will thrive if it is managed well and fail if it is managed poorly.

Executive coaches know this and have toolkits that help entrepreneurs overcome challenges and manage their businesses well.

A professional coach helps entrepreneurs boost business performance by identifying operational inefficiencies, streamlining team processes, developing performance metrics to track progress, and identifying management blind spots.

3. Increased Personal and Professional Growth

The search for personal and professional growth is universal. For entrepreneurs, it is a key part of becoming a successful business owner.

Business coaching and other forms of executive coaching help boost growth in the following areas:

  • Verbal and non-verbal communication skills
  • Clarity and concision when making critical decisions
  • Friendliness and charisma
  • Confidence in your leadership potential
  • Empathy for others
  • Respect for key stakeholders in a venture
  • Improved self-awareness

Coaches help build these skills because as a leader grows, they need to become more effective in their role.

Additionally, business coaches can provide unbiased feedback to small business owners. Coaches can say things to executives that employees at the company may not feel comfortable saying. This feedback is crucial to effective leadership in the long term.

4. Customized Business Coaching for Unique Circumstances

Many entrepreneurs face common challenges that can be dealt with without the involvement of professionals. However, unique challenges can arise, which call for customized advice from world-class executive coaches.

The unique circumstances might include:

  • Succession planning
  • Early-stage guidance for a new startup
  • Strategy planning for new markets
  • Coping skills for clients facing personal and business challenges

These problems call for unique solutions and business coaches often apply novel approaches to these coaching needs.

Unlike generic coaching programs, business coaches provide personalized coaching to clients. Their advice is based on the client's goals, industry dynamics, and company needs.

5. Executive Coaching Improves Accountability

Working with a business coach builds accountability because it is a formalized means of support for entrepreneurs and business leaders. Business coaching will help clients keep their attention on their goals.

A key part of regular coaching from a business coach is clearly stating and quantifying objectives and then devising an action plan for achieving those same objectives.

With this approach, the business coach becomes an accountability partner. The coach monitors progress and ensures that challenges are overcome, commitments are fulfilled, and obligations are adhered to.

This feedback and guidance from business coaching will keep the client:

  • Stay on track
  • Avoid distractions
  • Build new skills
  • Develop company strategy
  • Communicate clearly with executives

Holding individuals responsible for their plans and long-term vision, business coaching helps clarify the path toward further personal and business development.

6. Helping With Stress Management

Investing in executive coaching is one of the best ways to build resilience and navigate challenging situations, which can lead to a reduction in stress and an improvement in well-being. Senior leaders who work with coaches are much better equipped with means and methods of behaving under pressure.

Stress for entrepreneurs could come from decision-making pressure, poor work-life balance, or difficulties in interpersonal relations. These stress points can result in a cascading set of challenges that will result in professional goals not being met.

Your coach is trained to recognize these stress points and guide clients in developing research-backed strategies to manage them.

Some stress management strategies include:

  • Better time management
  • Prioritization and communication skills
  • Mindfulness techniques

As a bonus, executive coaching helps top leaders improve emotional intelligence. This skill helps executives conceptualize and regulate their feelings, making it less likely for them to suffer from burnout.

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How To Find the Right Coaching Partner

1. Identify your growth needs.

You want to get your growth needs out of the entrepreneurial coaching process. For instance, are you looking to grow your business, join senior leadership, or change your work-life balance?

Growth needs are unique and two clients won't have the same needs. Consequently, you must know what you want before finding an executive coach.

Consider the following growth needs as you look for a coach:

  • Communication Skills
  • Stress and Well-being
  • Negotiation
  • Strategic Planning
  • Executive Presence
  • Public Speaking
  • Budget Planning
  • Organizational Management

Your growth needs will determine the type of executive coach you can work with, and they will also determine the success or failure of your growth plan.

2. Identify a coach with relevant experience in your industry.

Once you identify your growth needs, you must focus on finding the right coach. This coach must have experience relevant to your industry.

A coach with relevant industry experience will help you develop more efficiently because they have the tools to provide tailored advice and insights.

In the context of entrepreneurship, focus on finding a coach who can support you in developing as an entrepreneur and who has a track record of successful partnerships with other business leaders.

3. Check for compatibility.

The relationship between a coach and an entrepreneur is deeply personal. For the partnership to achieve the set goals, you must share the same business philosophy, values, and vision.

For this reason, seek a coach compatible with your plan to develop as an entrepreneur. Compatibility also includes coaching style and working habits.

4. Consider the personality fit between you and the executive coach.

Chemistry matters a lot if you want to develop as an entrepreneur. It will determine whether you open up and feel vulnerable during coaching sessions.

Consider what this means for you. Does it mean:

  • Clear communication
  • Someone you can be vulnerable with
  • Someone who will ask you tough questions
  • Someone to hold you accountable
  • Someone you can brainstorm & troubleshoot with

You are probably looking for all those things – or a combination of several. When you interview a coach, you can specifically ask them if these are part of their relationships with clients.

Ultimately, focus on coaches who can support you by listening, asking insightful questions, and communicating clearly.

5. Seek recommendations for executive coaches.

Word of mouth is one of the best ways to find an executive coach for you or your organization.

Recommendations by a friend or organization are a reliable indicator of coaching performance.

If you are looking for a world-class coaching experience, you might ask who the executives you already know are working with. Finally, you may want to include others in your company in a group coaching experience – or provide coaching for them to work with 1:1 as well.

Here is a short list of way to find a coach:

  • Check LinkedIn or Blogs for Reviews
  • Ask colleagues or friends in your network
  • Ask leaders you respect who they work with
  • See if an organization you trust employs and coach
  • Look for a coaching program you can customize for your goals

6. Consider a trial period.

Many coaches offer a trial period, which is a great way to test the impact of executive coaching on you or your team without committing to the considerable expense of a long-term contract.

This is something to ask about in an introductory call or as you are drawing up a coaching contract with your executive coach.

7. Understand pricing.

Executive coaching is a significant investment, so you must understand pricing to get the full benefit of the experience.

To understand pricing, consider the following aspects of coaching fees:

  • Hourly rates
  • Package deals
  • Retainers
  • Group Coaching
  • Executive incentives

As part of your cost-benefit analysis, consider the coach's experience, industry focus, location, and scope of work.

Inspiring, isn’t it ? Want to learn more about connecting self-awareness to professional development? Get in touch today.
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Maximize Your Leadership Development With Highrise

Are you ready to take your business to the next level?

Highrise executive coaching is the best way to do this.

Our customizable coaching program is designed to help you master decision-making, implement business strategies for every company need, build a powerful team, and drive sustainable growth.

Schedule your free consultation today and discover how our executive coaching can transform your entrepreneurial journey. Let’s build your path to success.

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AUTHOR
Andrew Langat
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Andrew Langat is an experienced content specialist in Leadership, Productivity, Education, Fintech, and Research. He is an avid reader and loves swimming as a hobby. He believes that quality content should be actionable and helpful.