Benefits of Business Coaching and Areas of Potential Exploration:
- Reduce the risk of unpleasant surprises by managing the right activities.
- Put in the systems and processes to fully realize your business’ potential.
- Rise above your daily grind to thoughtfully adapt to this fast-changing world.
- Learn to trust your staff so you can finally delegate effectively.
- Imagine your ultimate personal and professional goals, then make them real.
- Prepare to sell your business or plan your succession before the need arises.
Introduction:
Running a small-to-medium enterprise or family-owned business can seem overwhelming even during the best of times. That “overwhelm” can create tunnel vision, allowing lower-priority issues to worsen, especially for introverts dealing with difficult interpersonal issues. Furthermore, you know you need to focus on developing systems and processes to make your life easier, but your time must be spent ensuring employees get paid and customers remain satisfied. Out of necessity, you have become a “jack of all trades and master of some,” but you also understand that for your business to grow, you need to keep all the right plates spinning while working to get out of the details, grow a trusted team, and learn to delegate effectively.
The ultimate realization is that for your business to continue beyond your leadership, you will need to make yourself replaceable to maximize the sales price of your business—even if the sale is a transition to another generation of your family.
Your first step takes just 20 minutes.
Manage Your Time & Priorities
Everyone struggles to find the time to focus on the activities that matter most to them and their business. However, small-medium enterprise business owners often deal with a wider range of challenges than a typical senior executive with a full complement of support staff. If you run a family-owned business, the stakes are even higher because there is no immediate replacement should you fail. The biggest challenge is often finding time outside of making payroll and serving customers. There are simply too many other plates to keep spinning.
As a highly driven leader, you may find it hard to delegate or ask for help, fear losing what little control you have over your schedule, or are concerned about your image or reputation. Be assured that managing your time more effectively is not out of reach. Changing your time habits does not mean further sacrificing your professional goals, health, family time, or any other important aspect of your life.
Time management means recognizing your top personal and professional priorities, understanding how they may change over time, and how they align with your long-term goals.
Using various tools like a time-study or even shadowing, 360-assessments, and distilling priorities, we can establish the baseline of where you spend your time, identify the activities that reduce your energy or impact, and where changes are possible to reach your goals. Much like a pressure valve on the verge of failing, small incremental improvements can make a huge difference.
Note: This service can be provided as a standalone engagement. Typical engagement time: 3-4 months.
Benefits:
1. Learn how to make the time for developing systems and processes now to will free up your time later.
2. Set clear boundaries on your time, and become immediately more productive.
3. Remove or replace phantom workloads and wasteful activities (unproductive meetings, cell phone interruptions, excessive commutes) that drain your time and focus.
4. Become aware of self-sabotaging behaviors (e.g. creative avoidance) that, when addressed, can meaningfully open up your schedule.
5. Identify strategies to deal with toxic people that demand your time and energy with little to no benefit.
As a highly driven leader, you may find it hard to delegate or ask for help, fear losing what little control you have over your schedule, or are concerned about your image or reputation. Be assured that managing your time more effectively is not out of reach. Changing your time habits does not mean further sacrificing your professional goals, health, family time, or any other important aspect of your life.
Time management means recognizing your top personal and professional priorities, understanding how they may change over time, and how they align with your long-term goals.
Using various tools like a time-study or even shadowing, 360-assessments, and distilling priorities, we can establish the baseline of where you spend your time, identify the activities that reduce your energy or impact, and where changes are possible to reach your goals. Much like a pressure valve on the verge of failing, small incremental improvements can make a huge difference.
Note: This service can be provided as a standalone engagement. Typical engagement time: 3-4 months.
Benefits:
1. Learn how to make the time for developing systems and processes now to will free up your time later.
2. Set clear boundaries on your time, and become immediately more productive.
3. Remove or replace phantom workloads and wasteful activities (unproductive meetings, cell phone interruptions, excessive commutes) that drain your time and focus.
4. Become aware of self-sabotaging behaviors (e.g. creative avoidance) that, when addressed, can meaningfully open up your schedule.
5. Identify strategies to deal with toxic people that demand your time and energy with little to no benefit.
Delegate with Confidence
Owners of small-medium enterprises (SMEs) and family-owned businesses (FOBs) may struggle to let go of tasks and empower their team members. The fear of losing control, concerns about maintaining quality standards (perfectionism), and the innate tendency to handle everything personally can create a bottleneck that stifles growth and leads to burnout. For introverted leaders who need to analyze every task and who also have a hard time interacting meaningfully with their team, the obstacles to learning how to trust so they may delegate are much tougher. If you recognize the need to delegate but find yourself hesitating at the crucial moment, take comfort in knowing that effective delegation is a skill that can be learned and becomes easier with practice.
Through a combination of 1:1 coaching sessions, practical exercises, and personalized strategies, we’ll work together to identify the root causes of your delegation reluctance. We’ll explore techniques to build trust in your team, develop clear communication channels, and create systems that allow you to maintain oversight without micromanaging. You’ll learn to identify tasks that are prime for delegation, how to match responsibilities with the right team members, and how to provide effective feedback that ensures quality while empowering your staff.
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Benefits:
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1. Distribute responsibilities effectively across your team, allowing you to focus on high-impact activities that drive business growth.
2. Enhance team morale and engagement by demonstrating trust in your team’s abilities, leading to increased productivity and reduced turnover.
3. Leverage the diverse skills and perspectives of your team, resulting in better decisions, more innovative solutions, faster problem-solving.
4. Create a scalable, robust business that thrives even in your absence, providing you with greater flexibility in your personal and professional life.Â
5. Start training your next generation of leaders as part of your succession plan.
Through a combination of 1:1 coaching sessions, practical exercises, and personalized strategies, we’ll work together to identify the root causes of your delegation reluctance. We’ll explore techniques to build trust in your team, develop clear communication channels, and create systems that allow you to maintain oversight without micromanaging. You’ll learn to identify tasks that are prime for delegation, how to match responsibilities with the right team members, and how to provide effective feedback that ensures quality while empowering your staff.
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Benefits:
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1. Distribute responsibilities effectively across your team, allowing you to focus on high-impact activities that drive business growth.
2. Enhance team morale and engagement by demonstrating trust in your team’s abilities, leading to increased productivity and reduced turnover.
3. Leverage the diverse skills and perspectives of your team, resulting in better decisions, more innovative solutions, faster problem-solving.
4. Create a scalable, robust business that thrives even in your absence, providing you with greater flexibility in your personal and professional life.Â
5. Start training your next generation of leaders as part of your succession plan.
Grow Your Business Sustainably
You’ve likely experienced the great satisfaction of watching your business grow and the tough challenges along the way. Sustainable growth isn’t just about increasing revenue—it’s about scaling your business to maintain quality, preserve your values, and ensure long-term viability. Many SME and FOB owners are caught in a cycle of reactive decision-making, struggling to balance immediate demands with long-term strategic planning.
Keeping all the plates spinning (not just the right ones) can lead to burnout, compromised quality, and missed opportunities. The pressure to meet short-term goals often overshadows the importance of building a resilient, adaptable business model. You might find yourself hesitating to invest in new technologies, reluctant to expand your team, or unsure how to enter new markets without overextending your resources.
Building on the previous two competencies, “Manage Your Time & Priorities” and “Delegate with Confidence,” we can develop a comprehensive growth strategy that aligns with your values and vision. We’ll explore ways to optimize your operations, identify untapped market opportunities, and create scalable systems and processes that support expansion and long-term sustainability without sacrificing quality or employee well-being. Using strategic planning sessions, financial analysis, and operational assessments, we’ll navigate a path for sustainable growth that ensures your business thrives not just today but for years to come.
Benefits:
1. Gain a clear vision of your business’s growth potential and the steps to achieve it, allowing you to make confident decisions aligned with your long-term goals.
2. Identify and eliminate bottlenecks in your current processes, creating streamlined operations that can scale effectively into the future.
3. Develop a robust financial strategy that balances reinvestment for growth with maintaining healthy cash flows, ensuring financial resilience.
4. Develop strategies to expand your current opportunities and uncover new ones, thus diversifying your revenues from any one market, client, or product.
5. Build a resilient company culture that attracts top talent and maintains employee engagement, fostering long-term success.
Keeping all the plates spinning (not just the right ones) can lead to burnout, compromised quality, and missed opportunities. The pressure to meet short-term goals often overshadows the importance of building a resilient, adaptable business model. You might find yourself hesitating to invest in new technologies, reluctant to expand your team, or unsure how to enter new markets without overextending your resources.
Building on the previous two competencies, “Manage Your Time & Priorities” and “Delegate with Confidence,” we can develop a comprehensive growth strategy that aligns with your values and vision. We’ll explore ways to optimize your operations, identify untapped market opportunities, and create scalable systems and processes that support expansion and long-term sustainability without sacrificing quality or employee well-being. Using strategic planning sessions, financial analysis, and operational assessments, we’ll navigate a path for sustainable growth that ensures your business thrives not just today but for years to come.
Benefits:
1. Gain a clear vision of your business’s growth potential and the steps to achieve it, allowing you to make confident decisions aligned with your long-term goals.
2. Identify and eliminate bottlenecks in your current processes, creating streamlined operations that can scale effectively into the future.
3. Develop a robust financial strategy that balances reinvestment for growth with maintaining healthy cash flows, ensuring financial resilience.
4. Develop strategies to expand your current opportunities and uncover new ones, thus diversifying your revenues from any one market, client, or product.
5. Build a resilient company culture that attracts top talent and maintains employee engagement, fostering long-term success.
Plan the Sale of Your Business & Succession
You’ve made many sacrifices to build a successful enterprise. Your work may even define you. You are now thinking about retirement, pursuing new ventures, or simply planning for the future, and the thought of transitioning out of your business can be both exciting and daunting. Many SME and FOB owners find themselves caught between the desire to ensure a continuing legacy and wanting to further maximize the value of their life’s work.
The process of succession planning and/or preparing for a sale is complex and often emotionally charged. You may worry about maintaining the company’s values, preserving jobs for loyal employees, finding the right successor, or facing a life without work. Perhaps you’re unsure how to value your business accurately or how to structure a sale that benefits all stakeholders. The pressure to make the right decisions can be overwhelming, sometimes leading to long-term procrastination and hasty choices misaligned with your long-term goals.
Regardless of whether your time horizon is five years or 5-months, we’ll create a comprehensive succession and exit strategy tailored to your situation. Together, we can explore various transition options, from family succession to management buyouts or third-party sales. We’ll work on enhancing your business’s value, developing a strong management team that can operate without you, and creating a balance sheet and the systems and processes that make your business attractive to potential buyers. While longer time horizons are best, we’ll craft a roadmap that ensures a smooth transition while maximizing the value of your business.
Benefits:
1. Gain a clear vision of your exit options and develop a structured plan, allowing you to approach the transition with confidence and less stressed.
2. Learn how to redefine yourself and your activities post-transition by finding your new purpose and activities that will fulfill your new needs.
3. Develop a strong leadership team and robust systems that allow the business to thrive beyond your involvement, preserving your legacy.
4. Create a transition strategy that maximizes the sales value and ensures your long-term financial well-being post-exit.
5. Maintain the core values that made your business successful and honor your commitments to family, employees, customers, and community.
The process of succession planning and/or preparing for a sale is complex and often emotionally charged. You may worry about maintaining the company’s values, preserving jobs for loyal employees, finding the right successor, or facing a life without work. Perhaps you’re unsure how to value your business accurately or how to structure a sale that benefits all stakeholders. The pressure to make the right decisions can be overwhelming, sometimes leading to long-term procrastination and hasty choices misaligned with your long-term goals.
Regardless of whether your time horizon is five years or 5-months, we’ll create a comprehensive succession and exit strategy tailored to your situation. Together, we can explore various transition options, from family succession to management buyouts or third-party sales. We’ll work on enhancing your business’s value, developing a strong management team that can operate without you, and creating a balance sheet and the systems and processes that make your business attractive to potential buyers. While longer time horizons are best, we’ll craft a roadmap that ensures a smooth transition while maximizing the value of your business.
Benefits:
1. Gain a clear vision of your exit options and develop a structured plan, allowing you to approach the transition with confidence and less stressed.
2. Learn how to redefine yourself and your activities post-transition by finding your new purpose and activities that will fulfill your new needs.
3. Develop a strong leadership team and robust systems that allow the business to thrive beyond your involvement, preserving your legacy.
4. Create a transition strategy that maximizes the sales value and ensures your long-term financial well-being post-exit.
5. Maintain the core values that made your business successful and honor your commitments to family, employees, customers, and community.
Details and Proposed Process:
Typical Engagement: 6-9 Months
- We choose to work together, allowing a great fit to yield great results.
- Every aspect of our engagement remains strictly confidential.
- I move at your pace and will partner with you to accomplish some, all, or even more than your original objectives.
- My coaching focuses on context only, such as addressing behaviors or ideas that hold you back, and creating a positive, forward-looking attitude. Content development is left to the client, though I am always happy to provide coaching and guidance to ease the process.
- Please review my engagement process. Should you have any questions, let’s discuss them during our introductory call.
- During a follow-up call, we will finalize the terms, development goals, and desired outcomes before signing the contract.
- Sessions are 1-hour long and held on the same weekday and time. Typical engagements are set to meet once per week for the first half and then once per month for the second half. The meeting schedule is customizable.
- Sessions are conducted using teleconference applications, such as Zoom.
My Qualifications:
- I am a certified executive coach with additional specialties through the Center for Executive Coaching. My credentials and added certifications are available on the Education and Certifications page.
- My business, engineering, and scientific background information is available on LinkedIn.