What is a CoachMentor and What’s the Benefit of Working with one?

I’m not good with titles.

When someone asks if I’m a Business Coach or a Life Coach, I say “yes”.

But I qualify that with the statement that I’m really more like a CoachMentor. Or in actual fact…more like Alka Selzer™. I provide relief: a pat on the back, kick in the shins, compassionate strong task-master who’s your neutral objective ally and accountability partner in getting you to where you want to go…faster, easier and with measurable results.

I was recently interviewed for a National magazine. They wanted to learn more about my Olympic background, and my views on mentoring. And although there’s a distinction between coaching and mentoring, I’m definitely a hybrid of the two.

It stems from my athletic coaching background. I always said: “I’m not interested in creating an athlete for a season. I’m interested in developing a human being for life.”

And that’s how I look at my role as a CoachMentor to the people I have the privilege of working with. It’s an inside-out job. We work as much on the “human” element as we do on the ostensible business issues.

And I say “ostensible” because it’s rare that the business challenge is actually what the real issue is. More likely, it’s a “human” issue…fear of failure, fear of success (which can be as debilitating as failure), self-imposed barriers, blaming not claiming, feeling alone and isolated, being out of touch with the realities of the business and its employees, or any other myriad of personal/personality/”self” issues that need to be dealt with before the lightbulb goes on. Once we tackle those issues, the solutions to the business problems are almost self-evident.

I say “I’m not a therapist, but the work I do is very therapeutic.”

And that’s why I prefer to think of myself as a CoachMentor because I work with individuals in a holistic way: developing the person and dealing with specific issues. It’s kind of like a closed loop. As the individual becomes more aware of what’s really holding them back or getting in the way, the clearer the solutions to their business problems become.

It’s about taking personal responsibility for the fact that Choice not Chance determines your destiny. And everything’s a choice. Choosing not to choose is a choice.

It’s about doing the work. Not just talking about it, thinking about it or dreaming about it. It’s about rolling up your sleeves, being prepared to take a long, hard look at yourself and your business, accept full responsibility and take action.

It’s about creating a plan with incremental steps and goals  – benchmarks if you will – that will allow for small, manageable, measurable chunks of improvement in everything you do.

It’s about treating your employees with respect, and (over-used word here) empowering them…or more to the point, allowing them to come from their own place of empowerment and self-actualization. We know that carrots and sticks don’t work. Employees want to be valued for the contribution they make. Let them contribute. Hand over the reins by telling them WHAT you want done, not HOW to do it. Micro-management does not empower. Allowing people to flop and fly, learn and grow, does.

It’s about really identifying WHY you’re in business. Easy answer: to make money. But of course! But if you don’t know they ‘why’, the ‘how’ doesn’t matter. Maybe it’s time for you to reflect on why you got into business in the first place, reflect on the chapters you’ve gone through and the chapters yet to come. Heck, it might even be a whole new book!

From now until the end of 2012, I’m offering what is usually my complimentary 30-minute Wanderer Ponderer Power Chat for a full 60-minutes.

If you’re ready to set the stage for tangible, profitable results in 2013, I’d love to chat with you. I guarantee you, it’ll be a blast, and you’ll walk away with loads of actionable advice, not just “feel good fluff”.