Hiring a Business Coach is a big decision. It is an investment of time, energy, and resources. And it’s almost like bringing a new person onto your team. So, the first thing to consider before hiring a Business Coach is the culture of your business. What is your culture like? What type of Coach will fit into that culture. What type of Coach will most certainly not fit into your culture?
At ActionCOACH, we recommend that culture is the first consideration in hiring, in building your team. As an owner, you must define your culture. Write it out. Share with your existing team. Include it in your job descriptions for advertisements. You want to attract people who will fit into your culture. Find the people that want a workplace culture like yours.
Business owners may be great at building a good culture, sharing it, recruiting with it. However, they may not stop to think about their culture when hiring a Business Coach or consultant. They might make the decision to hire a coach or consultant based on the person’s education level or certifications. Or maybe they’re focused on hiring someone with extensive experience in their particular industry.
These are important considerations, however, if they do not fit into your culture, it will not work. No matter how many certifications or years of experience in your industry they have. They will not be as effective as a Business Coach who does fit into your culture.
Let’s say you have worked hard to create a great culture in your business. You love it, your team loves it. Everyone is content and happy – you’re doing great in this regard. Then you bring on a Coach with a mindset vastly different from your culture and values. Maybe they are looking exclusively at the bottom line and profit margins. They believe you can cut expenses by firing several employees or eliminating employee benefits like health insurance. They are insistent that this is the only way to improve margins.
However, being highly respectful of your team is part of your culture. Caring about health and wellness is part of your culture. You’ve already committed to providing health insurance benefits and your team are counting on this, and honesty and integrity are part of your culture.
Making the choice to bring on a Coach without considering your culture and values can lead to big problems! It can cause diminished team morale, less trust in you, communication problems and interpersonal conflict. Event with a better bottom line, is this building a successful business?
I spoke with a business owner years after hiring a business coach. It was effective in that the bottom line results were good. The business grew more successful financially. However, that owner said, ‘Looking back at the experience, it turned out that I had to apologize to a lot of people for a lot of years. And it’s because the coach was not necessarily the best fit for our culture. The road to those end results was rocky and perhaps not the best road to take.” It probably wasn’t the only road to get there, either!
So, when you’re looking at hiring a Business Coach or a consultant, think of it the same way you would when hiring an employee. You’re bringing a new person onto your team. Is this person somebody who will fit with your team? Is it somebody who is a culture match? Do they share similar values? There are, of course, many other considerations. But making sure that that person is going to build your team the way you want it, not the way he or she wants it, is absolutely critical.
You can spend an hour with our Coaches to see if we’re a good fit for your culture!
Our certified business coaches are great at what they do. They are successfully helping clients achieve the next level for their business and themselves. We think they’re great, but we think you should spend an hour with them to find out for yourself!
If you are interested in a FREE 1-hour Coaching Consultation, fill out the form here. That way you can find out for yourself if our coaches are a good fit for you, your business, and your culture!
