Extraordinary Business

How active are you on change? Many people talk about change, plan change, and say how important change is. The challenge is when are you going to act on change? Talk is good, but action is better. As business leaders we preach the importance of change yet wonder why its so difficult to get our people to do what needs to be done.

Before you seek change externally, you may want to look interally. Is change considered a "Flavor of the Month" in your organization. Do your people nod their head in approval and then hide until the idea blows over? Do some informal leaders secretly plot to derail your change? Or, does everyone just ignor the change until it's forgotten?

Some reasons for this may be your behavior and what you are doing. Look to see if there is something you can change about yourself first.

Behind every great team there is a coach. Since I am from the land of cheese, I couldn't imagine the Green Bay Packers never having Lombardi as a coach. His beliefs and quotes resonate throughout the business community as well as on the field.

An executive coach can create the same impact for your business. Some advantages coaching can provide are:
- Teach you how to motivate your employees
- Help you strengthen your leadership skills and develop new ones
- Teach you how to build teams from individuals
- Provide new techniques to gain productivity
- Get you focused and keep you focused
- Ignite or re-ignite that inner passion
- Create better balance in your life
- Prepare you for a career move
- Achieve greater success than you ever thought possible
- Provide a neutral third party to share ideas and strategize

When considering a coach, you should look at the following:
- Do your research. Find someone who has a solid business background and a proven track record for success.
- Make sure the fit is right. Is this person someone you like and trust?
- Ask lots of questions. Understand what will be required of you to achieve the success you want.
- Make sure the coach asks lots of questions. They need to understand your expectations.
- Return on Investment. Getting a coach will require both a financial and a time commitment. Understand what the payoffs should be for the investment put in.
- Work. Working with any coach requires effort on your part. You are the key to success. A coach can only take you so far. Passive learning will produce little or no results.
- Have an open mind. To reach a new plateau, you need to take a new approach.
- Accept change. Old habits die hard. Only through changing habits can success be achieved.
- Have fun. Life's too short. Enjoy your time and use coaching as a springboard to do more of what you want.