When you run a business, the weight of the world often feels like it rests squarely on your shoulders. Every decision and every problem keeps piling up with no one to share the burden. Sometimes, it gets so overwhelming that it feels like you might just be better off with a boring day job.
Thankfully, there’s a secret force in the business world that can help multiply your successes, reduce your failures, and keep things in perspective: Coaches and consultants.
Coaches
These days, the title “business coach” gets thrown around a lot, with most of these so-called coaches being garbage.
It’s important to iron out exactly what a coach is, which is nothing more than someone who can help you go from where you are to where you want to go, faster than you can do it on your own. They aren’t magical gurus. They aren’t always experts in your specific field. They’re just coaches.
They Don’t Have to Be the Best
Take Vince Lombardi, for example. He was such a good coach that the NFL named the Super Bowl trophy after him. Lombardi was arguably the best football coach of all time, yet he never actually played true professional football —he played only semi-pro with the Wilmington Clippers.
How is it that possibly the greatest coach of all time never played at a high level?
The answer is simple: You don’t have to be the best at something to help other people be the best at something. That’s the special skill of a good coach.Just look at every professional athlete. They use a coach and are probably way better at their sport than the coach ever was.
Consultants
In my opinion, a good consultant is a business coach who also does some hands-on work for you as needed. They still guide you, push you, and help you make the best decisions. But if you also need help growing your tech team, making more money, getting more users, or locking down your security, a consultant will roll up their sleeves and get it done with you and your team. But why should you use them?
Growth From Different Perspectives
Honestly, you’re probably too wrapped up in your own world to see the big picture. It happens to all of us. Even consultants and coaches use consultants and coaches. Seriously. I’m a consultant and I coach people. And I too have a business coach and will hire a consultant whenever I need one.
The ‘why’ is simple: consultants help me see the bigger picture that I sometimes miss from being so focused on helping my clients.
People are just too focused on their work. Businesses are too preoccupied with their problems. The best way to rise above it all is to work with someone who has a top-down view and a fresh perspective. That’s where coaches and consultants thrive.
Consulting is for Everyone
Coaching isn’t just for newbies in business either. It is a tool used by some of the most successful CEOs around and recommended by Bill Gates (Microsoft) and Eric Schmidt (Google), among some of the great CEOs of today.
This is such an easy success hack that you can apply it to your entrepreneurial dreams right now. Want to launch an app? Find a coach. Want to build an eCommerce empire? Find a coach. Want to be a better executive? Find a coach!
Just make sure that they know what the hell they’re doing before you pay a dime. Ideally, hire someone who’s done what you want to do, or has previous experience helping someone do what you want to do.
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