hunt the good stuff

Actively seek out the good stuff

Hunt the good stuff

As a coach I work with many hard working, often ambitious people who want to be clear about what they want and how they’re going to get there. In a competitive world, entrepreneurs, leaders, heads of business know they must keep on going, persevere, never give up if they are to succeed.  When working over long periods in this way, it’s easy to get ‘stuck’ in a pattern of keeping their head down, focusing on the targets and being extra aware of obstacles or challenges that might get in the way of success.

Changing the perspective to actively seeking out the good stuff can transform the way we do things and increase our chances of success. It can make us easier to work with (it’s not easy working for a boss who only sees problems). It can help make us more resilient.

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Coaching your narrative

Learning from your story

What can you learn from your story?

Considering our own story is invaluable when considering our own life, work and development.  In a presentation on mentoring and narrative, Professor Bob Garvey, introduced the quote below from film maker Krzysztof Kieslowski and it got me thinking;

Coaching your story

 

It got me thinking about why I was there, in that room, listening to Bob Garvey, Professor of Coaching and Mentoring at Sheffield Hallam University alongside other experienced coaches and mentors. It encouraged me to consider my commitment to furthering my learning and professional development and my interest in coaching in general. It opened up a host of mini stories that brought me to sit in that chair, each one equally valid in how it has shaped who I am today. Suddenly, I felt like I could see clearly the path that had brought me here, as if a spotlight had been positioned onto my past.  Focus seemed to centre on the aspects of my past that I had enjoyed, found interesting, motivating and above all influential in putting me on this road. I realised the benefit of these and how I would like to do more. We can all feel frustrated or self critical when we consider our past decisions, but by seeing it as a story, that you might read in a book or watch in a film, a new perspective often opens up as we realise that each is a sum of what we are today.

Passive or proactive?

 

All that we do leads us to where we are

This quote helped me stop for a moment and reflect.  It helped me consider what drives me and realise that all that we do leads us to where we are. We can be passive in this and just find ourselves somewhere, or we can be more proactive and actively do things that will take us to our desired outcome. Being passive is always an option and can work well for many.  Being conscious and clear about outcomes brings more purpose and increases the chances or us finding ourselves doing something we enjoy and find stimulating.  This is relevant for our personal lives as well as at work and business.

What next? You can influence this.

Being aware of what has brought you this far can inform you of what you’d like to happen next.  It might be more of the same, some changes or a complete transformation.  It’s so important to realise that you really can shape your next steps, but being clear about what you want and putting a plan together of how you’ll get there. It can be scary to think that you can shape your future – it’s a big responsibility and you’ll be able to blame no-one but yourself. It’s worth asking yourself what the alternative is and whether or not you’re happy with that.

What if

 

What would be the right chair, who would be the right people?

What if considering this quote, you realise you’re in the wrong chair, with the wrong people? It’s not an easy realisation. It could help to ask yourself what makes it wrong? What aspects can you change? What can you do? Is it just a bad day? Or do you want to make some changes? Ask yourself what would be the right chair and who would the right people be? What first steps might you take?

This quote is a great catalyst for some thinking and questioning.  Take a moment to consider what thoughts come up for you. It’s essential that we all realise that we do have some say in shaping our own futures.

Ask yourself if the story that has brought you here, can help you shape what happens next.

To discuss coaching, please get in touch: info@catrinmacdonnell.co.uk or phone 07785 996917.

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Case study – planning for further, more focused business growth

Coaching for the next steps in business growth

Already the owner of an extremely successful business, client S now wanted to take a step back and consolidate before moving forward again.  He had grown the business to an extremely healthy level of turnover and profitability and had 50+ people working for him. He  had reached a moment in time where he felt that the business had reached a turning point with little strategy or planning and wanted to get some plans in place to ensure the next phase was more strategic.

His natural talents for seizing opportunities, disrupting the market, being committed to customer service and quality offering had got him this far, but felt that ‘winging it’ would be a risky strategy to carry on with.  He was clear that he wanted to continue with a strong level of growth but realised there were a number of changes that could be made to improve profitability and a restructure could be necessary to enhance productivity. There were some issues around work / life balance also which he wanted to address.

S chose to work with a coach as he felt he had a lot of the information and knowledge already but wanted to clarify how he wanted the business to be, with clear milestones and a plan for growth. He wanted to consider his own role in the business and whether an exit in the near future was something he wanted. He knew that an impartial view from the outside would benefit him and his business.

Take an outside view of the business

As a coach, I ask questions that an outsider might ask, which gets business owner thinking about a different perspective on how things are done. We started with the story so far and what had and hadn’t worked.  This provided invaluable learning and enabled us to spend some time looking at the strengths and weaknesses of the business.  A plan to address any weaknesses was put together as well as a plan for how to spotlight and further enhance strengths.

Marketing plan

One weakness identified was a somewhat scattergun approach to marketing.  There was no marketing plan, so S decided to bring in a marketing consultant to advise on a more cohesive marketing approach for the team.  Internal communications were sporadic and with staff levels growing, he realised this needed to change. There is now a comprehensive marketing plan with measurable targets that fits in with his overall plans and targets for the next stages of business growth. On the subject of marketing, we worked on a customer journey and a snapshot of how the customer might experience buying from their business.  This provided a great deal of useful insight into changes that needed to be made.

How profitable?

A large turnover is not enough to maintain business success.  Profit is vital and this had not been a priority.  We worked on a plan for increasing profitability and very soon, the results were seen, which was extremely satisfying.

Once an overall strategy for growth was put in place, S chose to continue with the coaching on a monthly basis, to ensure that there is accountability and a space for discussing any further challenges as they arise.  A level of business flexibility is required and S finds the coaching meetings valuable for decision making on a variety of issues which perhaps can’t be shared with others within the business.

This is a very short summary of the business growth coaching work with S, but hopefully will give you a flavour of the impact coaching can have on a business.

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