Life coaching / Career Coaching

The Importance of Coaching

Rob Malone – Expert Guest Writer

I recently had the pleasure to read Rob Malone’s new blog at brainsalsa.com.

He addressed a question about coaching from of one of his readers with insight, providing useful information, based on experience…

Rob writes:

On Monday probiotic expert Neil Dhawan from www.geneflora.com asked, “How important do you think it is to have a coach?’    So that you can experience the same frustration my daughters do when they ask me a question I am going to give you a conditional answer.  It depends on the coach and how open you are to constructive, honest evaluation of your flaws.

I am a huge believer in coaches.  If you follow sports you know that skilled coaches can produce perennial winners year after year after year – at any level from high school to professional.

I personally have had numerous coaches (both my professionally and personally).  Here are some lessons learned in selecting a coach.

For coaching to work you have to remain objective when the coach is diplomatically telling you that you suck.  Your idea is crap, your execution is sub par, you are inferior to your competition, you aren’t putting in adequate effort… yadda, yadda, yadda.  Or a really great coach will tell you when you need to fire yourself if you just don’t have what it takes in a specific area.

Know specifically what you want from the coach – coaches are not mind readers and it is your responsibility to define the objectives.

Coaching relationships are not life long commitments.  All coaches have limitations which means there is a limit to high they can take you.  Be aware of this and when you hit that glass ceiling part ways and look for the coach who can break you through.

Asks specific questions to get a feel for how clearly defined the coaches vision in her model and she is going to help you; such as”

• ·        What are the three biggest issues you see most often
• ·        What specific tactics and strategies did you use with past clients to overcome these three issues
• ·        Tell me your greatest success story
• ·        Tell me your biggest failure
• ·        Tell me about your three most recent coaching experiences
• ·        Tell me how you benchmarked their success.
• ·        What criteria will you use to evaluate if we are successful
• ·        Tell me about your vision and mission statements
• ·        Tell me what specific tactics and strategies you are using to achieve your vision and mission
• ·        What criteria do you use to evaluate if you are achieving you vision and mission

And my favorite question, “What do you look for in a coach?”  This one usually catches them off guard and there response helps reveal how well thought out their business model is.  Do they have a crystal clear idea of what is important in being a coach.

Typically they don’t get asked this question a lot so don’t be surprised if it takes them back a little. But be silent and look them straight in the eye. After they collect themselves if they give a very concise and well thought out answer then you can reasonably assume they have a very clear vision of coaching.

More about Rob Malone:

Rob Malone is President of Malone Building Solutions (MBS) a commercial design/build company that specializes in the design, project management and construction of
commercial and institutional projects. MBS predominately works in the St. Louis metro area
but has done work in Kansas City, Chicago and Washington D.C. Some of MBS’s more
notable clients have been AT&T, Phizer, Universal Studios, The City of Chicago and the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Also notably MBS was selected to do the first ever design/
build project for U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command.

After being brought on as a consultant to help salvage several church construction projects
that had gone horribly wrong Rob realized that there was a need for a program to educate
churches on the solicitation, evaluation and procurement of design and construction
services. To that end Rob, with his brother Marty Malone, created Malone Church Solutions
(MCS).  MCS provides cutting edge design/build services for the religious market.

Rob’s newest venture is www.brainsalsa.com. This is a web site design to stimulate the
mind and open the box of our consciousness to new possibilities. Brain salsa focuses on
the business side of personal achievement and success. Additionally Rob is expanding into
coaching for professionals and small businesses to help them succeed in today’s dynamic
and challenging business environment.

Rob is currently on the Executive Board of Directors for the Southern Illinois Builders
Association. He has been a member of the St. Louis Young Entrepreneurs Organization as
well as World Entrepreneurs Organization. He has served on the Mid America Work Force
Investment Board and is listed in the International Who’s Who of World Entrepreneurs.

You can contact Rob at rob@brainsalsa.com