Month: April 2014

  • How Baseball Coaching Compares to Business Coaching

    Baseball
    My husband and I at Chase Field.

    It’s Springtime and that time of year that I actually like to participate in watching some LIVE baseball games at Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ. Anyone who knows me well knows that sports are not usually on the top of my preferred list of what I like to do but baseball is a game that I understand.

    Since we transplanted our lives back in 1998 to Tucson from the East Coast we have followed the Arizona Diamond Back team thru their ups and downs. We don’t get to go as often as we like but nowadays when we do go we usually can garner some tickets from my husband’s boss. He has season tickets on the first row behind third base, SCORE!  These seats definitely beat the ones we used to get when my son was a toddler and we sat in the nosebleed section although we always had fun when we went.

    So baseball games got me to thinking about coaches and how baseball coaches have a lot in common with me when I coach a client.

    Baseball
    You see Coaches matter both in business and in baseball. If a business owner works with a great business coach they can excel and grow their bottom line. In baseball, a so-so team can be taken to an unimaginable level based solely on the coach they have. Coaches in baseball like a coach in business serve many roles.

    1. They see the big picture. A catcher or first baseman may see the game only from their limited perspective; the coach sees everything on the field and how all the pieces fit together.
    2. They have the wisdom of experience. The average coach has lived through more games than the average player, and they’ve seen things that some players haven’t. They bring that experience to the team.
    3. They are invested in the outcome, but they are in it for the long haul. Just as kids can’t see past the end of the school year, players sometimes can’t see beyond the end of the season. The coach can put things into perspective.
    4. They inspire. Because they care deeply about the players and the game, they are able to connect with the team in a way outsiders cannot.
    5. They get you in shape. No one WANTS to do stadium steps or run sprints, but the coach knows that these exercises are what’s needed to whip the team into shape.

    Just as you’ve never seen a winning team without a coach, you’d be hard-pressed to find a winning business person without a coach as well. As a coach I get coached by people who are many steps ahead of me.  This broadens my knowledge base which in turn helps me to be a better coach for those that I work with.

    A business coach can perform many of these same roles that a baseball coach does. They can help keep things in perspective, guide you from their experience and wisdom, help you think past the next fiscal quarter, and motivate and inspire you to move forward. They know what needs to be done, and in what order, so they keep you from wasting time and energy on unnecessary tasks.

    The best coaches get personal satisfaction in helping you succeed, so choose wisely. Find a mentor with a history of successes not just in the field you need help with but as a coach as well. You wouldn’t want a baseball coach who was still reliving his glory days as a Major League player and felt in competition with the players on his team; you also don’t want a business coach who feels threatened by your success.

    Ask around for recommendations, the best candidates come from referrals. Also, in today’s world taking a look on Google can help you gather information on someone’s qualifications. Please be sure to share how you have found a great mentor or business coach on this blog page.

    If you’re looking for an online marketing coach please feel free to contact me for a complimentary 30 minute consultation. I’d love to hear about your business.
    https://strategizeyoursuccess.com/coaching-consulting

     

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  • Reach for the Stars When Setting Your Goals

    When going into business, setting goals is an important thing. It helps you focus on what you want to achieve and motivates you to do what it takes to succeed. Reaching your first business goals is truly something to be celebrated don’t you think?

     

    Once you’ve reached your goals, what’s left to do? Make new ones! Goals are most effective when they are continuously updated. They motivate us to keep challenging ourselves and achieve higher and higher levels of success.

     

    Reach for the StarsHow to Set Effective Goals

    Some small business owners make the mistake of setting goals that are too vague. While vague goals are more attainable, they do not provide the motivation that more specific goals do. For example, you might set a goal to have higher sales this month than you did last month. Whether your sales are ten cents or $1000 higher, you will have achieved your goal. But which one would be more preferable?

     

    The best goals are ones that are measurable. The measurement doesn’t necessarily have to be monetary, though. It could be a percentage that you would like to increase your profits by next month, or a number of website visitors or mailing list subscribers you would like to reach in a certain amount of time.

     

    Don’t Get Stuck in Your Comfort Zone

     

    It’s a great feeling to meet your goals. It’s even better to meet them consistently. But if you are exceeding each and every one of your goals, it may be time to aim higher.

     

    Failure is so scary to some that they set goals that they have a good chance of attaining instead of ones that might not materialize. But by doing so, they don’t motivate themselves as much as they could. And that may lead to not working up to their potential.

     

    Instead of setting goals that you know you can achieve, consider stretching yourself a bit. Starting out small is fine if it makes you more comfortable. If you meet the slightly loftier goal, make the next one a little more ambitious, and continue this pattern with each goal that is reached. Before you know it, you will be in awe at what you are achieving!

     

    Set Aside Time for Goal Setting

    Reach for the Stars

    Running a business is hard work, and it’s not uncommon to get so caught up in day-to-day operations that we forget to make goals. But by skipping this crucial step, we miss out on an opportunity to evaluate how we are doing and give ourselves new things to aim for.

     

    Setting aside a time to determine our goals is well worth the effort. Adjusting long-term goals and setting short-term ones at regular intervals is time well spent. A good time for goal setting is at the beginning or end of each month. But if those are busy times for you, choose a time you will find easier to stick with.

     

    Setting new goals should be an ongoing process for every business owner. It is important to reward yourself for reaching goals, but it is equally important to continue to set new, higher ones. The more goals you reach and the higher they are, the more you can reward yourself.

    If one of your goals is to learn new skills check out some of my upcoming training sessions at https://strategizeyoursuccess.com/events-2/

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