6 Things You NEED to Know When Hiring a Business Coach

If you've been in the construction industry for any period of time, you've probably seen an explosion of coaches, consultants, content creators, influencers and all of these types out there. And with it obviously comes a lot of back and forth about who you should listen to, who you shouldn't listen to, what's good content, what's bad content across social media and events and speakers and all this kind of stuff. I'm Nathan with Contractor Coach Pro and I am putting out a stick series of short content videos around this concept of how do you hire the right coach or consultant? Now you might be thinking, Nathan, Contractor Coach Pro is a coaching organization. So isn't this a little self serving? It's a fair question. However, I believe truly that if you listen to what I have for you, you will discover that my motivation is to help you and to help this industry and, and hopefully along the way you'll pick up a few interesting little tidbits that were good for you and made it worthwhile. So let's get started. Number one, you can learn from anyone and likely get an ROI or return on investment. Here's what I mean by that. Virtually anytime, any place, anywhere, there's something to be learned. Whether it's your kid at home, whether it's a stranger at the grocery store, whether it's a YouTube video or somebody on stage, or a coach or a consultant, if you are wise enough and you pay enough attention, you can learn something everywhere. That's some ancient wisdom right there, believe me. Didn't come from me. Now the thing you want to pay attention to is what are you listening to? You could be listening to information that is too elementary for you. In other words, you've already mastered it. Maybe you could teach it, but that information isn't necessarily for you. That doesn't mean that information's bad. It just means that it's for somebody that's at a different stage in their journey. Or, and I've seen this as well, you could be paying attention to information that is a little too advanced for you. Maybe that information is for some somebody or some company or some business that's a little further down the road at a different spot than you are, and that's not necessarily the right information for you right now. Now, the way that this pertains to coaches and consultants, if somebody's asking you to pay them to help you with something inside your business or your company, the odds are good that if you pay attention and you apply yourself to what it is they're trying to help you with, you will get a return on investment for the money that you spent. All right, there we go. Number one in the bag. You can learn from everyone and probably get an ROI on it. Okay. Number two, and this one can be a little controversial. And as a matter of fact, I see a lot of heat go back and forth online over this concept. I want to address the myth, the myth that those who can't do teach. Let me say that again. I want to address the myth that those who can't do teach. Now, let me be clear. There are definitely people in the world who misrepresent their experience or maybe try to help or coach or give people assistance in doing things that they don't have that much experience in and maybe have no business doing. That definitely exists in the world. But those who can't do teach is not a hard and fast absolute. And I'll give you some examples. How many of Steve Young's coaches were super bowl winning quarterbacks? I don't think any of them were. How many of Tiger woods is many, many coaches had achieved the same success in the world of golf as Tiger Woods? None of them. Because Tiger woods is, like, the most successful golf player in the history of golf. How many of the world's richest and most successful people have coaches and mentors? Many of them. Do you think those people make it a requirement of their coaches and mentors that they have the same level of success at whatever it is they're trying to do that they do? The answer is no. I'll bring one home for you. Let's say you need to hire a sales manager. Would you rather hire a salesperson who has a track record of producing 2 to 4 million dollars a year in sales, or would you rather have her hire a sales manager who has a record of producing two to four million dollars a year? Salespeople? I can tell you what I would rather have. So don't get me wrong when I'm looking for advice on how to get to where I want to go. I certainly like talking to people who've done what I'm trying to do. But I also like talking to people who have a track record of helping people get to where it is I'm trying to go. So I'll leave you with this. If you're trying to be king, are you looking for the advice of a king or the advice of a successful king maker? All right, guys, we're at number three. When we're talking to or interviewing or consulting with a consultant or a coach who we might be interested in Having come help us with our business and what we're trying to do, what exactly are their core competencies? What are the things that they say that they do that they're experts at, that they know inside and out that they're a true authority on? And are those things the actual things that you're after? Furthermore, the way to test some of this is to definitely go back and look at some of their old advertising or some of the advertising that they have out there. What do they put into the world? What's their claim to fame? Do they have a reputation for that thing? And is it lining up with what they're telling you while you're live sitting there with them? Another way to test this is are there any things that you're looking for or need that they are willing to say they don't do? It is absolutely critical that they, and you know, their strengths and their weaknesses and that they're honest about both. So what are their core competency claims? Does it line up with their message that they put into the world? And are they honest with you about what they do and don't do? And does it align with your needs and what you're after? All right, we have arrived at part four. Here's the thing about part four of this little series. Part four actually puts a nice little bow on part two and part three. If you remember, part two was about the mythology that those who can't do, teach. Part three was about core competencies as we consider a potential coach or mentor or consultant. So what is it that others say this coach or consultant helped them do? What do they say they got helped with? Whether it's on social media or reviews or ratings or whatever that thing may be. References, testimonials. What do people say that this coach or this consultant helped them with? And does it align with what that person's telling you now? And does it align with what you're actually looking for? You'd be surprised how often those two things can sometimes be different. What is their track record? So the knowledge, the authority, the experience that they're leaning on to help you in your business and in your life, where did that come from? We all start somewhere. What is that history? Can you trust it? Furthermore, how many people have they helped? And over what span of time? Remember, would you rather have somebody who built a successful business, which is a good thing, or somebody who has a history of helping hundreds of people build successful businesses? And don't be afraid to ask for access to those people so that you can have an honest Conversation about their history and the results that they've helped others get. All right, we're down to part five in this little series about looking into coaching and consulting. Part 5 I've labeled coaching model slash expectations. Now let me be clear about this word expectations. The concept of what you expect and what you're trying to do should be addressed early, often and continually. As you work with a coaching organ, coaching or consulting organization, what you're after, what your strengths are, your weaknesses, what you're hoping this coaching, why it is you're looking for coaching or consulting in the first place. What I mean by coaching, model and expectations is how is this coaching delivered? A lot of people don't realize there's multiple different methods, or maybe we all have our own perception of what coaching looks like in our mind. But there's more than one way to skin this cat. So are you somebody who wants to work individually in a one on one basis with a coach, you and your team with that person specifically, and maybe a little bit of help here and there from other different angles. But that's what you're after. You want that thing, that person in that relationship, or are you looking to be involved in some sort of group or collaborative effort where lots of people are working on similar things and you have a chance to collaborate with other people, learning about their angles and different ways of viewing things, which can also be pretty cool, which one of those two things you feel like fits you better? Furthermore, are you expecting this coach to be physically in your office? We live in a day and age where we don't necessarily have to be physically near each other to see each other and hear each other and build a relationship. However, some people do want that direct personal interaction where they might literally get their hands dirty inside of your business. Are you looking for that or expecting that? Or are you expecting desiring or okay with that digital nature of your communications through email, through text messages, through Zoom meetings, whatever it may be, which one works best for you that you feel is going to help you accomplish your goals better and faster? Now, as we dive a little bit deeper into these weeds, there's other kinds of concepts that go into coaching as well. For example, some companies are very technology and platform heavy. What that means is a lot of their content has been pre recorded, loaded into a platform and you have the opportunity to move your way through that content and that coaching in a self guided, self paced manner and you have an opportunity to talk to. You may or may not have an opportunity to talk to somebody when you have a question or at regularly scheduled calls of whatever nature. But it's primarily self service, self driven and self paced. Is that what you're into? Some folks really thrive in that methodology. Or are you wanting that one on one, week in and week out, month in and month out, shoulder to shoulder, holding the hand holding and direct accountability from that individual that you're looking for. Whereas the technology may be secondary or supplemental to the coaching component or the coach themselves. Which ones of these things work best for you? And you should put your thoughts into which one you would prefer because different ones are going to have different pricing, different ones are going to have different structures. It all varies very much because all of us are different. And there's an organization that structured itself to fit your needs, no doubt. Well, here we are everyone. Part 6 in this series on how to find the right coach or consultant for you and your business. It's been an interesting journey. A lot of information that I hope you have found beneficial and I hope by now maybe you've earned a little bit of your trust that this isn't some sort of self serving bit of content, but that our heart, mine and the team at Contractor Coach Pro is to better you and to better the industry that you're in. And honestly, the more you know about what you're looking for, the easier it will be for you to find the right relationship, the right connection, so that you can accomplish as much as possible in as little time as possible while working with the right coach or the right consultant. Part 6 fit and timing Fit and timing I'm sorry, any guru, any consultant, any coach that exists out there, I'm sorry, I don't care what they say, they're not the right person for everybody. It's just not the case. Regardless of how successful they may be, all of their accomplishments, that is not a guarantee that that is the person that you need to hire. So they need to be the right fit. What does that mean? It means you like them. It means that you can communicate with them, you enjoy talking to them. In a lot of cases with coaching and consulting, you're going to be talking to them a lot. I hope you like doing that. Can you communicate? Do you. When one person says something, is the other one understanding it correctly? Do you feel and believe that you're going to be able to get good work done smoothly and efficiently? It's really critical to this relationship. Do you guys have similar values and culture between the businesses? They don't have to be exact, you don't have to be the exact same alignment however, the further apart you are in culture and values, the more difficult it can be because there's a tension between who thinks what thing is right or the correct direction to go. The more aligned you are, the easier it is for you guys to find those objectives that you're trying to get in the way that you want to get to them. Make sure that you have some alignment in culture and values with this coach. Timing. Believe it or not, if you get into coaching or consulting with somebody, it can oftentimes result in a lot of work on your part. You need to understand what kind of work and workload is coming and are you ready and are you in a position to do that? What stage is your business at? Stage is your life at? What kind of capacity do you have personally or the capacity that your team has? Are you ready to do this thing that you're looking to embark on? And I'll tell you right now, if you don't trust the person you're talking to to tell you if you're not ready, you need to run from that person. The person you're talking to, you should trust that if, if they see you headed down a path that that is not going to be good for you, that they will protect your time, protect your interests, protect your money, and that they would be willing to tell you no because their heart, they know this is not the right time for you. Is the timing right? Unfortunately, there are some bad actors in this industry and in this line of work who are more interested in calling you a client, adding you to their number of customers, putting you on their platform, charging your credit card. Then they are interested in making sure that you get the objectives that you came to them for in the first place. Thank you for coming along on this journey. I hope that you found this interesting and I look forward to talking with any of you I possibly can in the future.