Business Coaching & You

First things first, I’m biased…against business coaches.?Let that be known.?I have served as a fractional CFO for about four years before taking on a CEO role, so now that I have a little distance from the fractional space, I feel better about writing a piece about the subject of Business Coaching.

It is safe to say that not all coaches are bad.?In my experience, not all coaches are good either!?In the networking arena I’ve never had a mutually beneficial referral relationship with a business coach.?As a fractional CFO, I have gone into businesses that have used a coach and their finances have been a mess.?100% of the time!?That experience has led to my jaded view of business coaches.?If I was forced to posit a theory, the reason that there hasn’t been an abundance of referrals between Coaching & Fractionals is that these coaches that have consulted with the business owners I’ve worked with are blowing smoke up the business owners’ behinds and they’d rather not have the curtain removed…but that’s just a theory – and based upon a small sample size to boot!

Goals are good, and businesses should have them.?Anyone in business that has goals should have someone to hold them accountable for their progress towards a goal.

Perceptions, Assumptions - we all have them.?A good coach – like any good counselor – can walk a client through their assumptions and perceptions of the world to help break through self-inflicted barriers towards success.

The question is, “to what end”??While reaching a goal is important, what are the costs along the way??How will cash flow be affected??While helping business owners challenge their assumptions is important, to what degree is the business and its owner walking along the margins??What hiccups could materially affect the business – its employees, customers, vendors, and its community??Far too many within the coaching community have a myopic and self-centered view, in my humble opinion.

The problem within the Fractional industry is found within the discipline of Accounting.?Far too many Fractionals fall on the stereotypical end of the personality spectrum – most especially if the letters C-P-A are behind the name (sorry CPAs…not sorry!).?Embedded within the discipline is an inclination towards being risk-averse.

Again, “to what end” is the key point (mostly in regards to poor coaching).?If an owner is fixated on a Revenue Goal of X (by MM/DD/YYYY), and an increase in Net Income of Y (by same date) a linear thought process simply will not do!?Other “dials” are moving in the process: employee satisfaction & engagement, the greater – and more local – competitive economic environment are at play, just to name a few.?To leave future assumptions unaddressed is at the very least myopic – if not unethical at worst.?

What value will the business take into future generations??How is legacy being addressed??Who is being groomed??To what degree does the current leadership team have a proclivity towards good leadership??What leadership tenets need cultivation? Is culture being addressed at the appropriate time and place??What adds the most value to the organization??Is efficiency better than effectiveness?

I’m biased…against mediocre coaches, that is.?Great mentors and great training have made me that way.?My advice – in any area of one’s life – is to consistently look behind the curtain and evaluate what is going on; it can be enlightening :)

Author: Jason J. Sellnow

Founder, StraightForward Financial Insights LLC

***Jason has recently transitioned from fractional CFO roles to a CEO role but will consider coaching business owners in the areas of increasing the value of their business and succession?planning/exit planning***