What is a Success Coach? & Why do you need one?
When we look at the success framework, it is clear that success is achieved by taking strides towards your ideal future. This ideal future is why success means such vastly different things to different people, but the similarity is that each of us is striving for a future where we want to live. We set our sights on a future target, we create SMART goals, and we begin taking action. Now that we’ve set goals and are working towards them, we’re in the success game. And as with all truly great performers, regardless of their craft, they all need a coach to help.
The greatest singers have vocal coaches, someone that helps them refine their craft so they continue to be at the top of their game. Athletes that excel, they have coaches, many coaches. Each there to help the individual player excel, whether that be fitness, skills, mentality, or other discipline. The prevalence of coaches among top performers is without fail, which highlights an important element to success. Nobody achieves success alone.
What does a Success Coach do?
As defined by Oxford dictionaries, a coach is “an instructor or trainer; to give (someone) professional advice on how to attain their goals.” Simply put, a coach ensures that the efforts are accurately directed towards the eventual goal, and keeps the performer, you, accountable. And that is where a success coach comes in.
Success Coaching is focused on helping identify the most impactful behaviours and actions to achieve your goals. This means working closely to map out SMART goals, and breaking those goals down further into more manageable actions that you can held accountable for daily or weekly. Tracking your progress is an important element of any coaching program, to ensure that you are actually making progress, and not simply movement.
What does this look like in practice? For illustrative purposes, we’ll use a career goal of: Develop the skill-set of a manager/leader within 12 months. The success coach would work with you to identify the skill-set required; communication skills, delegation skills, time management skills, and so forth. Focusing on one skill at a time, the behaviors you would be held accountable to by your coach might be communication, with weekly presentations, reading requirements, and effective email writing practice. Breaking the learning down into manageable pieces, your coach forces you to become more than you are right now, so that you can be more successful than you are right now. And to top it off, the best coaches help you reach your goals without sacrificing the important areas of your life. This isn’t a “survive on 4-hours of sleep” regimen, nor a “sacrifice years of fun and enjoyment for the hustle.” Success is hard work, but it doesn’t need to come at the cost of your life.
Where do you find a Success Coach?
A success coach can be anyone who is able to help you sharpen your focus on your goals, and holds you accountable for their achievement. Some of us have friends or partners that are able to help us reach for higher levels of achievement. If that isn’t an option, success coaches and accountability partners can be found online, or through professional organizations.
Just as not all fitness coaches are right for everyone, not all success coaches are the right fit. Be sure to ask how your coach plans to help you achieve your goals. It is essential to find a coach that supports your goals and vision, and can give you tangible, actionable insights as to how to achieve success. And perhaps most importantly, you need to be willing to hear constructive criticism from your coach. Which means the criticism must be offered by your coach, and listened to by you.
*Consider this a cautionary note, before you put undue stress on relationships or friendships. You can always part ways with a coach you’ve contracted, but it’s much harder to part ways with a friend.
If you’re interested in seeing how our success coaching programs at Business Minded work, check out the page here.
As you embark on your journey to reach new heights, just remember, that vision of the future you’re working towards? It’s worth it. And when the road seems too steep to push on further? You aren’t alone, you’ve got a success coach ready to help you push for new successes.
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