Staying At The Top Of Your Game: Why Businesses Need A Coach/Mentor

Business coaching is about helping employees become more effective while supporting and involving your employees in the process. Business coaching is for any organization or individual employee, where the help is needed. The coach can help both businesses and individuals. For businesses the coach helps craft a full strategy for the business and helps objectively provide the feedback, assess the progress and helps course correct. For individuals, it is more about unleashing the potential, encouragement of the individual and helping the coachee get organized and get some direction from the mentor's experience. Coaching influences employee adaptability, productivity, and retention.?

According to the Small Business Association (SBA), more than 30% of startups will not survive past their first two years in business, and almost 50% will not make it to their fifth anniversary. On the other hand, more than 70% of startups that had mentors in business have managed to survive for more than five years. Many successful entrepreneurs, such as Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs, had mentors. According to the 2013 Executive Coaching Survey by Stanford University, nearly 80% of directors said their CEO is receptive to coaching. Following a survey of 200 small businesses, financial technology company Kabbage reported that 92% of small businesses said mentors directly impact the growth and survival of their businesses.

Critical element - Diversity of Experience?

Coaching and mentoring rest on experience sharing and expanding the cultural sensitivity of an organization. More diverse voices give companies an essential perspective to stay relevant in today’s world. In an increasingly globalized and interconnected workplace, organizations are expected to incorporate a level of cultural sensitivity and nuance. This should reflect in their practices and work policies. Catering to both–the expanding customer base and employee pool. Understanding different nationalities and gaining sensitivity to different cultures is essential for organizations today. The coronavirus pandemic has not only added to this emerging trend but instead created an urgent need.?

How can coaching help resolve this problem? Mentors have often experienced individuals aware of the plethora of ways the market functions. Their view of the industry is highly interconnected, dynamic, and nuanced. Such experience and understanding help them predict business challenges, which will help a mentee or an organization to learn from and be guided by someone who has been through the process themself.?

Coaches can help organizations value the individual skills that employees bring and make sure to utilize these strengths to help broaden their market. Employees with experience in different industries and businesses can achieve positive outcomes by getting their input and opinions. This is especially relevant with increasing changes due to globalization and fast-paced developments in Information and Communication technologies. Business process models are highly successful and applicable when a multidimensional approach is applied to account for the variability. This variability could be a function of culture, trends, or the zeitgeist. Increasingly businesses also tend to transcend industry constraints.

General Philosophy and Business?

Let's try to trace the origin of the word mentorship. The term mentor came from The Odyssey by Homer. In Homer’s The Odyssey, you can find the initial concept of mentorship when Odysseus leaves his son Telemachus to a trusted friend to go to the Trojan War. Prophets of different religions may also be called mentors. History even provides enlightening examples of how a diligent mentee can end up as a mentor, like Socrates mentoring Plato, then Plato mentoring Aristotle.

Today, a mentor, more commonly a business mentor, is someone who has a whole lot more experience and wisdom about your industry. He/she/they are willing to take you under their wing, guiding you towards the right path. Business mentoring isn't just advantageous for the mentee. The mentor can always benefit by exchanging rich conversations and learning new perspectives and tactics from their mentee. Today, there is no one model or a ubiquitous philosophy guiding the field of executive coaching. Variety thus opens up options for choosing what suits your industry and personal style of functioning best.?

Structured Process?

Mentoring or Coaching is a structured process. The knowledge and information the mentor/coach offers help develop skills to achieve personal and organizational goals. They help bridge the skill deficits and offer their knowledge and experience for the advancement of their mentees. To keep abreast with the evolving market requirements, change must be constant. They help organizations build a dynamic, skilled, and focused workforce ready to take on challenges head-on, building a resilient and agile workforce.

Furthermore, this third-party, objective stance can help you realize your strengths and weaknesses and opportunities and challenges. Someone who has done it and can put together a summary and an easy-to-follow discreet process can help a new joiner tread quickly. It acts as guide rails for the mentee, who doesn't have to invest time and energy to reinvent the wheel and make mistakes. The process puts an order to the plethora of things that a newbie might have to try and learn from. Instead, it simply outlines the tried and tested techniques for a mentee or an organization to follow to succeed. A Gallup survey found coaching effectiveness by 55% after six months of coaching.?

Resist the potentially destructive belief that you must always go through this journey alone.? An experienced and intuitive business coach/mentor can help you build the skills and strategy you need to move toward growth and success. The key is to know what you want to get out of the mentorship and be brave enough to pursue your dreams. Being factual and vocal about your expectations (and inhibitions) tends to help with the pursuit.?

Having a mentor to guide you will give you the confidence to steer your company toward success.? Mentors are a dime a dozen, but a good mentor will take some time to find. You want to find a mentor who suits you. You need someone willing to invest their time and effort in you and the organization. Look for an alliance that matches the organization’s preferences-communication patterns, is insightful and helpful. Lookout for Individuals who can articulate their strategy and chart a roadmap.?

I am eager to hear your experiences with coaching/mentoring. Have you considered it, or are you wary of the process? Either way, I would love to hear your viewpoints! Do drop a comment below and share similar content.?

References

1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2020/10/09/10-great-reasons-to-hire-a-business-coach-for-yourself/?sh=1c44cbd0599a
2. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/true-gen-generation-z-and-its-implications-for-companies
3. https://tickthoseboxes.com.au/what-is-business-coaching-and-mentoring/#:~:text=A%20business%20coach%20or%20mentor%20is%20such%20a%20professional%20ha ving,present%20situation%20of%20your%20business.?
4. https://www.crediblecoach.co.uk/what-is-business-coaching-and-mentoring/
5. https://www.pushfar.com/article/what-is-a-business-mentor-the-benefits-and-where-to-find-one/#:~:text=The%20role%20of%20a%20business,experience%2C%20which% 20is%20extremely%20valuable.?
6. https://smallbusinessify.com/the-importance-of-mentors-in-business/ 5. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/09/16/five-reasons-why-every-business-owner-needs-a-mentor-no-matter-how-successful-they-are/?sh=1e2e77a b335d?
7. https://abilityoptions.org.au/5-benefits-of-diversity-in-the-workplace/#:~:text=Diversity%20in%20the%20workplace%20means,and%20the%20potential%20they%20bring.
8. https://www.get.mentoringcomplete.com/blog/role-of-a-mentor?