I Can’t Afford to Hire a Business Coach and Other Excuses

You may have experienced one of the doubts below or have a different doubt when thinking about hiring a business coach. No matter what your doubt is, it costs nothing to begin exploring the value you could receive from a business coach. If some of the most successful sports teams and individual athletes in history have benefited from a coach, why can’t you?

“How Can I justify the cost of hiring a business coach?”

“I don’t have time to sit around and talk for an hour”

“An outsider won’t really understand my situation”

“Those who can, do; those who can’t, coach”

“My business does not produce enough revenue to have a coach.”

Are excuses for hiring a business coach a way for you to avoid dealing with change? If so, do you believe the conversations around those excuses? There are certainly reasons why executives don’t engage business coaches, but these reasons have little to do with the excuses they might offer.

What underlies this hesitation to use a proven, effective business tool to better your career and your organization?

While “I can’t afford to hire a business coach,” sounds like a good excuse, it undermines the inherent value of a coach-client relationship, which will surely enrich your professional and personal life. In terms of dollars, if you do not earn back my coaching fee seven to 10 times over the next 12 months, then I’m not doing my job.

Something other than money may be holding you back, such as:

The fear of becoming vulnerable.

The thought of laying all your cards on the table is difficult. How do you expose yourself to a stranger? You don’t want to talk about—or you may not have consciously explored—your challenges or the areas in your professional/business approach that might respond to development; yet, in the deep recesses of your mind, some things are begging for attention and you know that a business coach could help. Executives have to play a role and assume command. Being open to observations by others and allowing yourself to be vulnerable can seem as if you are giving in to weakness; however, in a professional coaching environment, separated from your office and colleagues, a safe venue is available to explore those rumored weaknesses and turn them into strengths. It is my view that a supposed weakness is simply an undervalued strength.

The fear of work.

When you are coached, you may be afraid to put real change into motion or to take on more work when you already feel bogged down. It is important to remember that “seeing the forest through the trees” could profoundly change your life and career. Business coaching can help lighten your burden, refocus your work and teach you how you manage your time more effectively. Reappraising your current workload often leads to a paradigm shift that changes motivation. Motivations such as freeing up the time you need for inspiration and new ideas, this and more could be yours.

The fear of judgment.

Business coaching may be erroneously perceived as a remedial response to performance. Executives might even feel foolish looking into it, or worry that their ability or credibility is on the line — especially when coaching is recommended by a superior. Getting past a potential basketful of emotions before you can commit to coaching may seem daunting. One way of responding to these emotions is to realize that a coach has a professional perspective to help you get the most out of your personal development, your goals and your life, which can make a huge difference. The new levels of success you will achieve will speak for themselves, and only your coach will know for sure. My clients are always reassured that I am fully committed to their success.

The fear of change.

Whether you have fear of success or fear of failure, change can be a scary thing. You naturally don’t want to fail or let yourself or others down. You may avoid change because giving in to your fears means you won’t have to discover that you can’t do something. On the flip side, what if you can do it? What if your status changes as a result of achieving a big goal? What if you get the opportunity to discover that you want more than what you’ve settled for, so far? What if you were to find harmony in a new approach to your work? Hiring a business coach can be a real catalyst for change. Read more about how business coaching changed these clients lives.

Tennis great Arthur Ashe once said, “Fear isn’t an excuse to come to a standstill. It’s the impetus to step up and strike.” Strike out the excuses you’ve been using, such as the persistent robot in the back of your head that keeps reminding you of shortcomings as well as the challenges that have been impeding you and the fears that have been restricting your performance.

Isn’t it time to review your current belief systems? Make a significant change for the future now! Your satisfaction in your career and your life could swing in a new direction when you work with a dedicated thoughtful business coach.

Contact Michael Whatmore today. See what some of Michael’s clients are saying about him. Smart leadership is confident; become who you were meant to be:

Email: [email protected] or call (650) 444-5881