Like any career, not everyone is suited to become a business coach. While you can always gain more experience or develop certain skills, your own personality also plays a large part in your success. So do you have what it takes to become a world-class business coach?
The right motivation
Career changes and progression rely heavily on motivation and drive to move forward. Without a strong motivating factor, you will find yourself stuck in the same position for many years. So what pushes you to succeed? For many successful business coaches, a main driver comes from helping others to succeed and their own success becomes a secondary motivation. This in itself can make the role rewarding, especially when combined with the benefit of helping your wider community thrive through the increase of success, income and employment in the area.
Another consideration is the need for constant learning and self-improvement throughout your career as a business coach. Due to the ever changing nature of the business world, your thinking and approaches will need to be kept current. If having a position where this isn’t necessary is more appealing, then business coaching is unlikely to be for you! However, if you enjoy learning about people, business and how to be successful in your endeavours, it might just be the right next step you’ve been looking for.
Essential skills and knowledge
When thinking about your current level of skills and knowledge, it’s useful to know what is applicable to other positions and what you may need to gain before pursuing something new.
One of the most important areas you need to have a deep understanding of to be a successful business coach, is what it takes to develop and grow a business!
If you’re not comfortable with speaking in front of an audience, turn back now! As a business coach, you will need to feel at home in front of a group of business owners or even large crowds at networking events. This skill will help you to build relationships with potential clients through networking, and enable you to help more business owners in group coaching sessions
The power of teamwork
So you’ve got the knowledge and skills, but how do you fare as part of a team? While you may be tempted to think of being a business coach as an internal team of one (at least at the start), it’s a bit more complex. To your clients you will be an unofficial but integral part of their team, helping them to see things they may have missed and ask the tough questions. If you can’t do that while maintaining a good working relationship across the board, then you’ll find yourself with disengaged clients. It’s also important to remember that you will also be working with your client’s team at times, so delivering group workshops and training will fall to you.
There are many areas to consider before jumping into becoming a business coach, including know-how, your own abilities and personal traits. To get more of an understanding, take the Business Coaching Quiz to find out how you would get on as a business coach!
