“The bar is low for entry but high for success” —Stacey Boehman on Coaching
One of my friends recently shared with me a story. She was sitting by someone at an event who said she was a business coach. The woman proceeded to talk about herself for the length of their conversation, never bothering to ask my friend anything about herself.
My friend shared this story with me because she knew I have a VERY different perspective on coaching. As a leadership coach, my approach is to help people understand their mindset. After all, you have to know what’s is holding you back from achieving your goals to do something about it. Awareness is a powerful thing.
To do this, I ask A LOT of questions. The questions I ask are intended to challenge my client’s thinking and to tease out the root of their hangup. This approach requires a lot of genuine curiosity. I ask things like, “Why did you do that?” “What are you making that mean about yourself?” “Is there another way to think about that situation?” (And so on).
The other really important part of this work is that I don’t pretend to have the answers. My clients are kick-ass leaders. They have risen through the ranks because they know what to do, or because they are resourceful and know how to figure things out. They know the answers, they just need help getting to them.
Clients are always a little surprised by this at the start. They are accustomed to coaches telling them to do this or do that. That’s not what I do. Honestly, how many times have you been told to do something, only to be unable to act on it? So many times, I bet! This is because we already know what we’ve needed to do; we just didn’t have the tools and knowledge to change our mindset to follow through.
This is where mindset coaching helps. You know what you need to do—have a conversation with that troublesome client, create boundaries for family members, start your diet—but for some reason, you’ve rationalized or procrastinated your way to inaction. The task remains on your to-do list undone.
“Are you one of these talkers, or would you be interested in a little action?” —Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday
Once my clients understand their growth is within them, they begin to realize that action without thought isn’t the way to success.
The results my clients get from me asking questions and showing them how their brain and thoughts work are astronomical.
- In a month and a half, one 2nd Gen Successor client got rid of $10,000 of debt, a goal she had had for years.
- A manager at a large family business was terrified to talk to the executives of the business. He would acquiesce when executives would challenge his team’s work instead of sharing his knowledge and expertise. Through 6 months of confidence coaching, he is now a sought-after employee regularly meeting with company executives to share he ideas, progress and challenges.
- Another client went from being stuck at zero revenue to over $25,000 in a few short months.
- Yet another now confidently leads her company in her new role.
All of these achieved through coaching with curiosity.
Do you have something you’ve been unable to achieve? Give mindset coaching a try. I’m here and ready to coach you with curiosity. Sign up for a free coaching call today.
