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Article Author:

Thinking About Hiring a Coach—Why Only in Sports?

Suzanne M. Lane, JD, MBA, Senior Manager, Strategic Services
slane@BlackmanKallick.com, 312-980-3301

It's springtime in Chicago—a time of year when Mother Nature provides us with glimpses of the highly coveted summer yet to come. Chicagoans, in particular, are famous for taking advantage of this precious time in order to engage in leisure activities such as softball, golf or tennis. It is not uncommon to hear colleagues discuss how they've employed a tennis or golf coach to help them perfect their game.

I find it interesting that business people, in particular, will employ a coach to help them hone their skills at golf (which they play a handful of times per year); however, when asked about employing a coach to help them hone their managerial or leadership skills in business, I often receive blank stares.

So why is hiring a sports coach for their leisure pursuits the dream of most individuals, but not so for business leaders in facing challenges in the "real world"?

I believe the answer lies in three incorrect assumptions that business owners, leaders and managers have convinced themselves must be true.

• "I don't have any problems, so why would I need a coach?"
  
  Let’s face it, most businesses suffer a handful of issues and challenges, large and small; but, more importantly, executive coaching is not about fixing problems or providing remedies. Coaching is about proactive forward movement for business owners, leaders and managers. As author Jim Collins would say, it is about moving from Good to Great.
  
  Coaching can be particularly effective in planning for leadership succession as, inherently there are challenges in this process—particularly for family businesses. Newly appointed leaders of family businesses are particularly susceptible to being thrown into leadership roles before they are ready. Employing a coach to help facilitate a new leader's development process can be invaluable, both to the exiting leader and the successor.
• "I can solve the problems myself. I don't need help."
  
  This is a typical entrepreneurial response. Entrepreneurs and business leaders are known to suffer from two things: isolation and overconfidence. Not only do leaders need a sounding board to overcome the feeling of isolation that running a business often creates, they also need opportunities to hone their skills in areas such as developing leadership skills, implementing their vision, and managing employees.
  
  Our greatest sports stars, such as Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong, employ coaches because, after all, even the best of the best have to be able to admit their vulnerabilities in order to improve their game. Particularly for emerging or newly appointed leaders, admitting what you don't know is as important as selling what you do know. Establishing a coaching relationship to address those vulnerabilities and set a path for future growth can be invaluable to the success of the individual and the business.
•  "It's too expensive."
  
  While many large corporations have come to appreciate (and in many cases quantified), the value in which leadership development and coaching can provide to their higher level managers, small to midsize businesses have been slower to embrace coaching due to the perceived high costs associated with it.
  
  However, coaching can provide positive financial returns for the business as well as positive emotional returns for the individual being coached. Coaching often provides a sense of reassurance to the "coachee" that he or she is valued by the organization, and, in turn, it has often been proven to increase employee engagement and development and cut down on turnover costs. As a result, many organizations quickly recoup the costs associated with their investment in coaching.

So, just as Tiger and Lance wouldn't question the investment in excelling at what they do best, shouldn't business leaders do the same?

If you have any questions, please contact your Blackman Kallick representative at 312-207-1040.

This publication is part of Blackman Kallick’s marketing of professional services, and is not written tax advice directed at the specific facts and circumstances of any person and/or entity. Contents of this publication are of a general nature, and you should not act on this information without obtaining professional advice from your business advisor that is appropriately tailored to your individual needs and circumstances. This written advice is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code.