What does a coach do, anyway?

Have you ever gotten a bit tongue-tied telling people what it is that you do?

Being a coach can be hard to explain.

People have lots of different ideas about what a business or executive coach does. On top of that, I have a few specialties that I love to talk about, but that makes explaining what I do even more challenging.

Let me boil it down: A coach is someone who helps another person get better at something in ways that person couldn’t do on their own as easily, quickly, or effectively.

As a coach I bring a different, objective, and helpful perspective to my clients. I use expert methods and skills to help them get clarity, grow their businesses, and lead more effectively. I help people cut through the noise and focus on the specific point of leverage that will help them get the results they want. So they can do something new that they couldn't before.

(That’s where the “Point” in FocalPoint comes from!)

But explaining that can be tough.

Some leadership and business theorists suggest starting with Why, What, and How. Why do you do what you do? What do you actually do to achieve that motivating “Why?” How do you do it that sets you apart from others?

My “Why” is about making things better in the world. To borrow an old Boy Scout principle, I always try to “leave the place better than when you found it.” My focus on leadership is because people who take on leadership roles have greater leverage to make things better in the world. I am the pebble on the pond, working with leaders so that they can create more effective and human workplaces. That, in turn, ripples out to benefit their employees, their families, their customers, and their communities.

My “What” is about growing skills, confidence, and mental fitness in people and teams. I work mostly with leaders and largely with people in technical professions and businesses. I help techies become confident, effective, and influential leaders.

Then there are the ways I do this. That gets into the “How.” I use a mix of research-backed, results-focused solutions to help those people and teams get better at what they want to improve. My blend of expertise, perspective, and solutions is unique. It helps people get results in ways they can see, feel, and measure.

Some of my tools include:

• Coaching methods to help people get clarity, grow their businesses, and be great leaders
• Training design, development, and delivery to grow knowledge and skills
• Positive Intelligence techniques to build people’s mental fitness and resilience
• Simulations, scenarios, and case studies to teach through story
• Assessments to measure behavior, motivation, PQ strength, and emotional intelligence

Because I’ve had experience across many different industries and organizations, I’m able to share a broad set of perspectives with the people I work with. Combined with those tools, that always helps them find something they can do right now to improve and grow.

More capacity, better health, better results.

Tip: When you need to explain what you do, consider using some of these ideas to boil down your own “Why,” “What,” and “How” for people.

Very likely, you can benefit from these things I've mentioned or know someone else who could. Send me a reply or schedule a networking meeting and tell me who you think I should talk to. I have more availability for projects and work coming up soon!

My tagline doesn’t cover everything I do, or why, but it’s memorable and gets at the heart of it: “Turning techies into leaders.”

It’s a quick phrase that sticks.

What is your tagline?

I’d love to hear it!

Keep striving so that you will always have something you can do today that you couldn't do a year ago.

All the best,
–Steve

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