by Michael Cruz
It’s all about habits. The way we eat is established by patterns or habits. So, after the diet we go back to our established patterns. And guess what? We gain back all, and sometimes more of the weight we lost.
The same is true when we try to change something in our business life. Did you know that it takes at least six months to change an established pattern or habit? And that is why we often fail to be consistent in new business habits.
Diets are built around a system of support. There is menu planning, diet coaching and programs designed to keep you within the diet. That is why you have short-term success. However, unless we practice that change long enough to have established a new pattern in our lives, the results will not last.
Business habits need a system of support in order to change business behaviors also. That is where business coaches come in. An effective coach works with the CEO, president or executive director to examine their firms’ positioning, management team, sales issues and of course, finances. Most of you reading this, know what you’re good at. You also know what you’re not good at. Often, especially for entrepreneurs, it is difficult to give up doing it all, and to help your team understand what needs to be done. Effective coaches will help you stay accountable to yourself to ensure that you learn to ‘let go’.
Athletes all have coaches. We accept that. Many CEOs of large companies also have coaches. One of the more successful coaches in the business world was a man named Bill Campbell. He founded Intuit, the maker of QuickBooks. Later became a business coach. In that role he coached the CEO of Apple and Google. He was a mentor to several CEO’s of the largest companies in the US.
When you decide that your business is not giving you everything that you want from it, you are facing major changes, or you just want to develop your management team into being more effective, that’s when you need to go find the business coach that can help you.
When you decide your business is not giving you everything that you want from it, or you are facing major changes, or you want to develop your management team’s effectiveness-that’s when you need to find the business coach that can help you develop and sustain new business habits.
Cruz is president of Lighthouse Advisors LLC in Queensbury.