When it comes to business coaching business owners, there are so many things that I learned early on when training to be a coach that I constantly have to remind myself of throughout my career. There are so many basic, fundamental aspects of coaching that Clay teaches us early on during the process of shadowing or learning the systems. We shadow, observe and execute for months and months. Then, once you become a coach, Jonathan Kelly takes the time to mentor us as well as we encounter certain, uncharted territory. Needless to say, we are all well-equipped to execute the proven path, over and over and over and over. Yet even the fundamentals have to be reminded often.
One of the biggest things that I learned early on as a business coaching teammate from Clay and Jonathan is that each person and each business works and operates differently, and each at their own pace. Yet, one of the most challenging things about business coaching is shifting that pace from hour to hour, from client to client. Not only that, but as a coach, as you continue to execute the path over and over, you want to get them and their business to “the mountain top” as soon as possible. But again, everyone works a little differently, and at a different pace. It doesn’t mean one business owner is a better client than the other because they go faster or slower, it’s just a matter of ACTUALLY DOING IT TO GET BETTER. Let me tell you what I’ve learned from working with multiple clients and helping them execute the plan that grows their business. There are so many different types of personalities in business owners. For the purpose of this blog, I’ll categorize them as three types of entrepreneurs.
The Fast-Paced, Sometimes Disorganized, DRIVER Entrepreneur
These are drivers. They go, go, go, go. They assemble an airplane on the way down after jumping from the sky. They are always looking to finish the next action item and they want to go as fast as possible. Because of this, they go at a faster pace than the rest of the world, meaning this creates more revisions in the business and the workflow, but the revisions are easy because they DRIVE to the solution quickly.
The Slow-and-Steady, Organized Diligent Entrepreneur
They may not work as fast as drivers, but boy are they diligent. These are usually entrepreneurs who want to understand everything. They ask questions. They are ok with moving at a slower pace, knowing they weighed all of the options and stayed organized in the process. They are not less valuable than the fast-paced entrepreneur and their business is just as successful, they just get to the “top of the mountain” a different way.
The “Neither” Entrepreneur
Well… if I have to explain this category to you, maybe you are reading the wrong blog.
The fact is, everybody is different and everybody works at their own pace. The only problem, and wherein lies the rub, is if you are “neither” of these people. If you work at a slower pace, yet you still get it done, this is okay too. Everything is detailed, you take the time to read information so you can fundamentally understand. You take the time to perfect every little detail so that you know it is perfect.
If you are a driver and you want to go as fast as possible and at some point in time, something gets missed on your to-do list because you’re increasing your error percentage the faster you go, or during the execution process, you realize you have to go back and redo certain things that you maybe did too quickly while trying to complete the task. This is okay too.
Either way, the fact is, you still get there by doing and executing. Whether you work at a super, crazy, fast or slow pace you will still get there. You won’t get there if you do nothing. If you are neither of these types of people, you will fail. The fact is, if you do not execute it doesn’t matter what kind of pace you work at. As a coach, my business coaching job is to match your speed, then crank it up about 10%. We’ll get you there no matter which category your personality fits.
