The Power of a Coach

I think it’s safe to assume by now that you probably – at least to some degree – understand that having a coach is such a valuable strategy towards becoming great, whether that’s improving your golf swing, enhancing your public speaking skills, building a solid relationship with your wife, or growing your business.

But, it amazes me how often men recognize the value of coaching in elite performers yet underestimate the power of having a coach even if you’re not at the elite level or competing on the global stage.

I get it. For a long time, I resisted having a coach. I thought that I could figure it out all on my own. I thought having a coach was a waste of money. I thought coaching would be pointless or that all coaches were scam artists and so I resisted.

It wasn’t until I came to a breaking point in my business about 5 years ago that I realized that I needed some help and I was probably going to have to pay for it. And that’s when I hired my first business coach.

I had to pay for my flight to meet my coach, my hotel room, my food, and a non-refundable $1,500 deposit just to meet with him.

Long story short (and I’ll break this down throughout the rest of the conversation) I ended up hiring him and paying him an extra $6,000 for him to coach me.

I’ll be honest, I had buyer remorse right away. I thought I had made a mistake but, I already paid the money, so I committed to doing exactly what my coach told me and within a year I had doubled, and was on the way to tripling my revenue, that same year.

So today, what I thought I would cover (with the help of a suggestion from JD) is a couple key reasons why hiring a coach might just be the next step in the evolution of the man you’re working to become.

EMOTIONALLY DISCONNECTED

The first reason (these aren’t in any order) you should consider hiring a coach is that a coach is not emotionally tied to your behaviors and/or results.

Emotions are a great tool in certain circumstances. When I fell in love with my wife, it was an emotional decision, not a logical one. I can’t quantify why I fell in love. There’s no t-chart that weighs the pros and cons. It was emotional.

But, when it comes to the results you’re trying to produce in your life, your emotions have a way of clouding your judgement. Once example I can think of is investing in the stock market.

Everyone know the first rule of investing: buy low, sell high. No one does it. Sure, they think they will but when push comes to shove they allow their fear and greed (emotions) to get in the way of making a prudent decision.

A coach is not emotionally tied to your decisions so he or she can make a recommendation to you without attaching themselves to the baggage you have. We make excuses. We get scared. We have history. All of that changes the dynamic when you’re trying to make choices about your life.

BLIND SPOTS

Second, a coach can see things you can’t. You’re in the forest. A coach is above the trees. You’re making decisions with limited knowledge. A coach can see it all at once.

So, when you’re about to make a misguided decision with the limited information you have or you’re about to do something dumb, a coach can say “stop” and get you pointed in the right direction.

I can’t even begin to tell you all the times I’ve wanted to make decisions in my business only to have a coach share some inside knowledge that made me question the move I was about to make.

EXPERIENCE

My third point is that coaches have compounding experience. In a way, they’re fortune tellers because they’ve seen the moves. They know how this plays out in other people. They’ve watched other people trip and fall.

Now, they can come back and tell you where to step and where not to. It’s been said that a smart man learns from his mistakes but a wise man learns from the mistakes of others.

There’s no rule that says you have to learn the mistake for yourself. The time, energy, resources, and money that a coach will save you is infinitely valuable.

COST MONEY

My fourth and final point I want to make before I give you a couple keys to be aware of is that coaches cost money.

I know what you might be thinking: “the cost of a coach is not a benefit.”

I disagree. We all know that you only value things so much. Anything you received for free, you’re not going to value as much.

Also, you now have skin in the game which will drive you to take action. You don’t want to lose your investment. That’s how it worked for me when I hired my business coach. He was expensive so, if I didn’t do what he said, I was wasting my money.

If you don’t spend any money and get nothing in return, how valuable was it? Not very.

On the other hand, if you spend $10,000 and produce $20,000, $50,000, or $100,000, how valuable was it? Very.

That first coach I spent money on cost roughly $8,000 after all was said and done. But, I’m likely to spend $25,000 on coaching this year. Some of you might be thinking that’s a ton of money and some of you might be thinking that’s not a lot at all.

Either way, it was a great investment because they revenue that coaching will produce is 10-fold this year and worth millions over a lifetime.

Okay, so you see the benefits. Let me tell you about three simple things to look for in a coach.

SPECIFICITY MATTERS

First, find a coach who specializes. There is no coach that knows it all. Figure out what results you want to produce and hire a coach to get you those results and nothing else.

I have 4-6 coaches at any given time based on what I’m trying to create in my life.

QUESTIONS

Next, look for a coach who asks great questions. The goal of a great coach is not to give you the answers. The objective of a great coach is to help you find your own answers. So, if you find a coach who tells you everything and gives you every answer you’re looking for, he’s not really a coach.

You want to find one who asks a lot of questions, almost to the point of annoyance. This is someone who is more likely to help you come up with your own solutions.

RESULTS

And third, look for results. There’s a scripture that basically says, “By their fruits you shall know thee.”

You’re looking for fruits. You’re looking for results. It’s easy to fool someone into thinking you have it figured out but the results don’t lie.

Find someone who has the results you’re after and/or has produced the results for others. You want someone with experience in producing. You DO NOT want to be the Guinea Pig.

They’re emotionally disconnected from your decisions, they’re going to help you see blind spots, they have compounding experience, and the cost money which will get you to put some skin in the game.

And again, you’re going to want to find someone who is a specialist, asks great questions, and produces results.

I know hiring a coach can be a little nerve-racking but the value of coaching is immeasurable.

I don’t know what results you’re trying to produce but I personally offer coaching if you’re interested. You can send me a message at [email protected] if that’s the case but I only have five coaching spots available during the month. If you do email me, I’m going to ask you what you’re trying to accomplish and a lot of other really annoying questions so we can see if we truly are a fit.

But, whether you reach out to me or hire someone else, make sure you are getting some sort of coaching in your life.