Everyday we are bombarded with more and more stimuli, phone calls, texts, podcasts, Facebook, Twitter, emails, Instagram, customers, family, creditors, children, schools, you name it we deal with it (or are distracted by it).  Customers and clients expect more faster, cheaper and of the highest quality.  The more we get the more we do and our sense of comfort and confidence to fulfill all we have to do is undermined and compromised.  So we go faster and faster, later and later in the day and before long we crash and sometimes burn.  And then we get to start up again the next day.

 Is faster better?  Do you get everything done that you intended?  Are you happy and well?  Do you have peace of mind? Do you spend enough quality time (“balance”) with family and friends?  Do you take care of yourself?  And I don’t mean overeating or drinking or drugging.  If you’re like most of us, the answer is more likely to be “No” than it is “Yes”.

See, we are under the false impression that if we only go faster and keep moving, everything will be all right. Sometimes speed is limiting.  Nothing illustrates this better than The Star Trek Warp Speed Metaphor. (I hope you’re familiar with the show or the movies otherwise this may not make sense).  When the Starship Enterprise jumps into warp drive, it goes incredibly fast covering a huge amount of distance going from one end of the galaxy to another.  However, when moving that fast, its other senses are LIMITED BECAUSE OF THE DISPROPORTIONATE AMOUNT OF ENERGY JUST DEVOTED TO GETTING SOMEWHERE.  Its vision is limited to what is directly in front of it; it loses sight of all that is around it and all of the stars and planets outside of its path appear as a blur. It cannot shoot its phasers or photon torpedoes, it can’t communicate with anyone, it can’t put up its shields to defend itself.  All it can do is go fast from one place to another.  (Sound familiar?)

 Consider that our daily experiences are much like that. We hit the ground running, reacting and going as fast as we can to meet deadlines, real and imagined, worrying and doing and chasing and putting out fires until we finally come up for air.  We spend much of our day REACTING to most everything that shows up in our path.  By the time the smoke clears, we are exhausted and whatever satisfaction, if any, we might have experienced is gone and long forgotten.

 Also because we are caught up in the rush, we miss things that positively impact the quality of our daily lives and actually allow us to be present — from the simple beauty of a tree or flower, the smile of a child, the look from a loved one.  The same is true for our business.  We may miss the feedback from a customer, the good work provided by an associate or employee, or a small detail that can transform a problem into a golden opportunity.

When the ship drops out of warp speed, life slows down and everything comes into focus – they can communicate, they can put up shields and defend themselves, they can shoot phasers and photon torpedoes, they can use evasive maneuvers.  Suddenly everything appears in clear detail and possibilities that couldn’t be seen reveal themselves and become available.

 When we slow down, we become aware and things come into focus. We can hear things going on around us.  We can create a thoughtful response rather than a quick reaction. We are able to step back and see the bigger picture and find the missing piece. We can assess the nuances of a problem and create a solution from a broader perspective that not only works but also can exceed everyone’s expectations.

 So the next time you find yourself rushing, step back, slow down, take a deep breath (or several) and ask yourself a few questions.  What is the most important thing that needs to be done?  What project has a deadline that must be met?  What can be rescheduled?  Look around… What assets and resources can you deploy to ease the load?  What can you delegate to an associate or employee?  Focus on the solution, not the clock.  A funny thing happens when you slow down, worry dissipates, energy rises, solutions get created and before you know it you have completed the tasks that were most critical with lots more ease and many times even quicker than anticipated.

 And because you have slowed down, you have noticed those moments that remind you of the pretty damn good life that you have and you’ve experienced those beautiful moments that stay with you long after the task is completed.

Coaches provide an extra set of experiences and perspectives that are invaluable for people who want to excel in their field, maximize business profitability and improve quality of life — or all of the above!

1. Business Leaders Prefer Coaching

According to Career Partners International, 40% of 400 U.S. and Canadian business leaders interviewed chose coaching as their preferred method of leadership development.  Research is accumulating that shows a return-on-investment (ROI) of five to eight times the cost of coaching, 500%-800%.

David Rock and Linda J. Page
Coaching with the Brain in Mind

 If that isn’t reason enough, let’s look at these other reasons to hire a coach.

 2. Experience the Difference Between

     Success and Failure, Great and Good

 In virtually all professions (sports and entertainment especially), executives, leaders, and top performers hire coaches to give them an edge against the competition and to personally excel.  Coaches are trained to draw out your genius, the difference between success and failure, or great and good.  The smallest insight or tweak to a viewpoint, perspective, or skill can create maximum impact to the bottom line, whether personal, financial or both.

3.  Use Cutting Edge Science and Training

Most coaches are lifelong students.  To hone our craft, and our understanding of how people work, we immerse ourselves in the most cutting-edge learning in the fields of human potential, psychology, neuroscience, consciousness, and business.

4. Rediscover Your Authentic Self

As we grow and develop, we discover and experience things we are passionate about and find compelling; we are excited and engaged when we do it.  Then something negative happens or someone says, “You can’t do that.” or “That’s not practical.” or ‘’There’s no future in that.” and we become discouraged and give up on it.  A coach helps you rediscover who you are, so you can tap into your strengths and passions bringing them into your life and work.

5.  Gain Insights vs. Accumulate Knowledge

Coaching focuses on insights, not knowledge.  If knowledge were all that was needed, we’d just read a book by Richard Branson or Warren Buffett or surf the Net and go to work.  Coaches facilitate insights so you see something you didn’t see previously, opening new doors to new solutions and better results.  These insights lead to increasing your awareness, providing a deeper and richer understanding. Consider the experience of learning how to ride a bike. One moment you’re falling off the bike and then the next moment you’re riding!  What happened? You discovered balance. You had an “AHA” moment.  There is a level of ownership available when you experience an insight that is distinctly different from learning something from a book, an audio or a video.  It becomes part of you.  It’s also permanent. You can’t “unlearn” how to ride a bike.

 6. Ask Questions vs. Give Answers

Coaching taps into the unknown, asking provocative questions, not providing answers.  It facilitates insights and breakthrough thinking igniting one’s creativity.  It is not a slave to conventional wisdom; coaching questions the status quo, encouraging curiosity and innovation.

 7. Challenge Your Beliefs and Assumptions

We all have limiting beliefs about ourselves and the world.  You can’t go more than an hour without having a limiting thought about yourself or some challenge on your plate, or have someone, a colleague, a friend, or family member, or some talking head pontificating about all the reasons why something “can’t” happen or be accomplished.  The more we hear them, the more they seep into our thinking.  A coach will challenge your thinking, the status quo, and conventional wisdom, providing the space to be creative and think outside the box.

8. Provide Honesty and Clarity

Coaches are not cheerleaders, friends, or Yes Men; they tell you the truth and will challenge your beliefs, assumptions, and actions when appropriate. They hold up the mirror or shine the light on things so you can see them clearly and honestly.

9. Provide a Sounding Board

Having a coach removes you from the limitations of a single perspective.  You have an outlet for bouncing your thinking off someone who is practiced in using provocative questioning, well-honed listening skills, and keen intuition.  This provides a powerful space for you to refine your ideas and goals.

10. Help You Slow Down Your Pace to Speed Up Your Results

Coaches can help you slow down and take stock.  In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing world, the coaching relationship provides a space that allows you to slow down, take a breath, ground yourself, sort through the noise, and use your own innate knowledge and genius to select the most powerful choices.

So the question isn’t “Why” anymore, it really is “Why Not.”  Why wouldn’t you take advantage of all the benefits coaching provides?  Coaching is not only a great investment, but also it is a great investment in you, the main driver and engine of your business and your life.

 I first discovered my love of coaching in April 1992 when I participated in a human potential course called the Landmark Forum.  From the first experience, I became mesmerized by the clarity and communication skills of the Forum Leader.  He would interact with one participant and get to the heart of the matter without once offering an answer, strategy, or a “way” to do anything.  Rather he would ask questions and challenge their beliefs and the resulting “AHA” moments weren’t only experienced by the person directly working with the leader, but by many of us in the room as well.  It was called a transformation.  This inquiry into “what is it to be Human” was compelling, energizing, disruptive, and challenging.  It woke me up to my life and what truly might be possible that I had either previously written off or forgotten.

 I remember feeling strongly that this transformation spoke to me and touched my heart.  I believe the seeds were planted that day for me to be a coach.  Or perhaps I was reawakened to my true purpose.  Either way, my purpose is to wake people up to their true selves so they may thrive and positively impact the world.  My mission is to help people rediscover who they are, and create their lives deliberately, authentically, and joyfully.  Coaching is the vehicle and expression through which I choose to fulfill this commitment.

When I am engaged in coaching I am alive, excited, inspired, and connected.  Coaching is a joyful experience where I can make a profound difference in peoples’ lives.  For me, the client coach relationship is a sacred dance of collaboration and creation, where trust and courage meets love and service to produce results that aren’t predictable or even imagined.  The relationship that is created between the two is one of connectedness and acceptance, because judgment, pretense and artifice will not get it done. 

The results are often magical and profound!  When self-limiting beliefs are recognized for what they are and the client reconnects to their true self, watch out. This subsequent emergence brings with it joy, love, and creativity allowing for magic to happen and anything becomes possible!  Imagine…the moment of the insight, the client’s eyes widen, they stop talking…and you can see the weight lift off their shoulders and years drop from their face as they break into a big smile and light up.  This is the true payoff for me; I get to experience their breakthrough with them as it happens.  That’s why I coach.