Businesses, like yours, at various times need guidance. It could be that you are experiencing new growth and you need help in adjusting. It could be that your management team is young and inexperienced with the demands of their positions. You might need help keeping focus on your goals for your personal and professional life. The point being is that there are many reasons to select a business coach. The ultimate question is do you know how to choose a business coach at all?
When should a business choose a business coach? To answer this question you first have to ask yourself a very important question of your own, “Is my business and/or I am ready to be coached?” The question of when is answered by you knowing if you are ready to be coached.
Business coaching is a process and method that will challenge you and your business to be better than it already is and to reach for the unreachable. A coach does this by being an objective observer, asking uncomfortable challenging questions, and laying down fundamental plans double hold everyone accountable. So if the business is not ready (or if it is you) to be held accountable, challenged, and face the uncomfortable observations then it is not ready for a business coach. If you and your business have decided your ready for coach then you have already crossed the largest hurdle in your search. So what else should you look for when you search for a business coach?

There is no cookie-cutter approach to searching for coach for your business. Yet, but there are some standard criteria that you should use. Here are just a few of them:

• Do you get along with the coach?
• Can the coach explained to you what they can cannot do for you?
• How accessible is the coach to you and your team?
• What expectations does the coach have for you?

Of course there are many other criteria that go into selecting a business coach. There are countless blogs, websites, and brochures that can give you other questions you can use in your search. Let us go through in detail the four listed above.

You are going to be spending quite some time with your coach. So you better like them. Here is a tool that you can use when you are interviewing your coach. Imagine yourself on the longest road trip you have ever taken for your entire life. We have enough fuel, food, and no need for rest stops. The only unfortunate problems that you have on this road trip is that there is no radio, no rest stops, and it is just you and the coach that you are interviewing. You are alone in the car with the coach. You both know that this trip will take at least one month to complete. If you cannot get along with this person in the first few minutes, that is going to be one very long road trip. No no matter how many degrees, books, and clients this coach is served if you like him you are not going to listen to him. Is that plain and simple.

If your coach has passed the car test, the next test is basically simple common sense. While every human being on the planet believes they all know the answers to everything, the reality is that we all know that is not the case. When it comes to business coaching is important that your coach can give you in great detail what they can do for you. It is even more important that they give you in greater detail what they cannot do for you. If your business is suffering from poor acquisitions and mergers than you want to know if your coach has experience in those particular areas. It would be a disservice to you and your business if you hire a coach that is excellent at executive committee cage and in public speaking for job they have no experience in. At a minimum that make the problem worse than it already is. Any coach that cannot detail what they cannot do for you is not worth hiring and you are better off containing your search.

In your search for business coach you will mostly come across the infamous, the famous, and notorious better part of this industry. That being the case it is important for you to know how open and accessible they are to you and your team. A coach that is difficult to get a hold of is not worthy of your investment. Would you hire a business coach they should be dedicated to your team and to ensuring that you reach your goals. How can a coach hold you accountable to the plans that you have both developed that they are not around to watch you put them into action? Quite simply it is difficult for them to do that.

Would you hire a business coach they will have expectations for you and you will have expectations as well. In your interviewing process for business coach you need to be honest with what your expectations are. For instance, if you want to turn a flagging organization from a poor performer to a multimillion dollar business in two months, then it might not be realistic for your coach to be that expectation. Another example, your management team is having problems communicating with each other and spend their time pointing fingers. Are you hiring your coach to be a referee? Or are you hiring your coach to improve teamwork and communication skills? Without knowing what your expectations are your coach and you may devise a plan that does not solve your problem or need. Coming to an agreed expectation is important for any successful coaching relationship.

When a coach meets your expectations, aligns with your desired goals, gets along with you to provide honest feedback, and is on call when you need them, you will find that you and your business team can achieve the unachievable. A business coach can provide actionable plans that keeps you accountable and focused on obtaining your goals. A business coach can be an integral part of any team. Many business coaching relationships have become part of the many small business and corporate success stories across the globe. If you are careful and take your time in selecting a coach you too will experience success.