© 2009 Vinny Ribas

 

Last Sunday afternoon I spent 3 hours with from Tony Bodoh, a brilliant business consultant in his own right, who I have been coaching on launching his own businesses. One of the major things that I have helped him with is sequencing his steps. I have done this for hundreds of other businesses over the past 5 years. But this time, I went to HIM for sequencing help!

 

I have worked hard for months on the plans for my new business. I know where I am going, how I am going to get there, who and what I need to get me there, and what I am going to do once I’ve “arrived!” Still, it is amazing how beneficial, motivating and spirit-freeing it was to have someone else evaluate, sometimes constructively critique, sometimes honestly agree with and overall help me to perfect my plans!

 

The world’s greatest athletes look to their own coaches and trainers to watch and correct them all of the time. The greatest and most respected singers around the globe have vocal coaches that help them protect and continually improve their voices. The reason for this is that both the athletes and the singers need someone to see or listen to what they are doing from an outside perspective. Things always look, feel and/or sound differently from the outside than what they seem like from the inside! That is why it is also difficult for a physician to heal himself!

 

Why would it be any different for business owners? No matter how much you know about your  business or the field your business is in, you cannot possibly be completely objective with every move or decision you make. In fact, the more brilliant you are (or people tell you that you are), the more important it is to have someone (or more than one person) to bounce that brilliance off of.

 

Coaches, consultants and mastermind groups can all play valuable rolls in insuring the integrity of your decisions. They each have their own role in this process. Coaches help us keep things in perspective and keep our priorities straight. Consultants can help us with the operational details of the business, such as strategic, financial and/or marketing planning. A mastermind group is a group of 3 or more people who agree to brainstorm ways to solve each other’s challenges.

 

There are several reasons why having a coach , consultant, and/or a mastermind group to bounce your ideas and plans off of is important:

 

• When you are personally affected by the outcomes of your decisions, your personal feelings and emotions (e.g. pride, desire for approval, need to appear in control etc.) are all reflected in them. This can sometimes cause problems that you can’t see from your  internal perspective. A good coach can help you make decisions based on fact, not strictly emotions.
• Your personal needs (e.g. attaining or maintaining  a certain level of income, working at home etc.) can also color or cloud your decisions.  A coach can help you keep the proper perspective. 
• There is always someone smarter than you! You might be an expert in certain areas of your business. In other areas you may also be a very good generalist. But the devil is in the details, and sometimes it takes a number of experts (consultants) in various different areas to develop and perfect a plan.
• You never end up second-guessing yourself because you have someone else to do it for you! Third party confirmations instill confidence.
• Two heads are always better than one. When 2 or more minds feed off each other, the resulting ideas and plans can be amazingly creative and operationally impeccable.
• Sometimes it is just impossible to see the forest from the tree! Just because we like something doesn’t mean the masses will. An outside perspective can bring new, vitally important information and opinions to the picture.
• Sometimes you just need someone to help unclutter your brain so that you can think more clearly. A coach can help you sort through the masses of information that you have to prioritize and keep straight on a daily basis.

 

Personally, I feel much smarter every time I wrap up a session with one of my coaches, consultants or mastermind groups. We always come up with improved concrete plans, answers and solutions. Additionally, I watch how they process things, how they come up with the right questions to ask me, and how they teach me rather than do everything for me. That in itself is an education that was never not taught in any school that I ever attended!