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The difference business mentor can make 

When Beth asked me to write a guest blog on the difference a business mentor can have on agencys (or persons) success, my first reaction was, yikes. I didnt share that and obviously rose to the challenge. As a coach, I guess theres a lot of expectation riding on this, isnt there? Im imagining whos reading this, and youre probably expecting me to share something hugely insightful.

Let me try to oblige. There is coaching, there is personal and business mentoring. And while there are dictionary definitions of both, let me try explain the concepts from my point of view.

On one level or another, were all at point A. Wherever that is for is for each of us is ok. Were standing on one side of a bridge and we want to cross over and get to point B. Point A is where we are now and point B, over the bridge is where your goals are. There are going to be obstacles between point A and point B, because thats life. Mentoring can help you navigate your way around, over or through those obstacles.

Sounds super simple, right? Well, the thing you dont realise is that when youre standing at point A and you want to push to point B, theres an invisible elastic band around your waist. You feel that resistance as many things, maybe procrastination. You experience it in many forms, such has limiting beliefs or past failures. It manifests as a raft of things that have kept you from achieving your goals and kept you stuck at point A. Coaching can help you break that elastic band (or at least make it a little longer so it’s not puling you backwards so hard).

Throughout my years in business and decade of owning an agency, I hired business coaches. And they didnt get it. They had a few tricks up their sleeves to produce some quick wins or land some “low hanging fruit”. I even remember one coach who let slip about their tactics to keep me consciously incompetent so that I become reliant on them because, well, I was their meal ticket. Ive also done enough Tony Robbins events and coaching to know that most of the time the gurus” tell you to set a goal, have a clear ‘why’, and take action. Sadly so many people do those things but still dont get closer to point B. Why? Because no one deals with the invisible elastic band.

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Thing is, for a long time calling myself a coach hasnt felt very comfortable. Theres a lot of fakery, fuckery and manipulation out there. That kind of shit makes you wonder if coaching is legit or if it is in fact one big fat scam.

Fortunately, I believe from my own experience of coaching clients and working with some amazing coaches today, theres real transformation that can occur.

Im not just saying that because Im a coach. Coachees report increase in confidence, work performance, better relationships. And according to Forbes, one in six entrepreneurs turn to coaching to improve their businesses. Since 2019, searches for coaches have grown by 51% so theres an upward trend people are definitely catching onto.

Whatever youre trying to do in your agency, whether that’s increase your revenue, decrease your doubt or get the team in flow, working with a coach can help you move forward further and faster. Theres an old saying, if you want to go fast go alone but if you want to go far go together” and that really rings true.

Its important to realise that there are different seasons to business, sometimes youre in a season of growth and sometimes youre building systems and processes to prepare for growth. There are foundation blocks to put down and at times you need to work on the business, marketing, sales strategy, people strategies or on a combination of things which is challenging. Leading, growing the business and growing your skillset as a leader of the business all need to be in pace with each other.

As an agency leader, youre responsible for the companys vision and direction and that needs to be chunked into strategies and tactics. That much is in your control. Where agencies lose control and become vulnerable is execution. Thats the one variable that when inconsistency strikes, it keeps business owners up at night.

The role of a coach or business mentor, should help you gain and keep clarity on the goals, and where youre headed, keep you focused and accountable while offering expertise, perspective and objectivity to navigate the obstacles and ditch the elastic band.

A coach who understands the phases of business and execution can provide the strategies, structure, action steps and accountability to achieve your goals on purpose.

If you think a coach or business mentor is what you need for where you are right now, set an intention and a goal for what you want out of the partnership. To make a difference for you it has to be about you.

I hope this blog has shed some light on how business mentoring or coaching can help you in your agency or further your agency business. Im happy to answer any questions or do a follow-up post on what to look for when hiring a coach if we get enough interest. So ask away….

Contact Sian about coaching and how she can help your agecny as a business mentor.

SIAN LENEGAN 

Beth Hellowell
Founder of Women in Agencies and co-founder of Signify Digital. Mother, social media scroller and frequent pasta eater.