The Benefits of having a Business Coach, Mentor and Mastermind Group

For those of you running your CEPN, own business or in a leadership position, I strongly believe you have to proactively and intentionally look to surround yourselves with an 'A Team' to support you in reaching your full potential.

We all need to seek guidance, support and receive a little extra help here and there, and outside of our friends and family a business coach or mentor can really help.  

A coach can be invaluable in; 

• building confidence

• introducing you to resources you never knew existed

• pushing you out of your comfort zone

• creating a strategy

• developing new offerings

• enhancing your service or product, guiding you to make a decision you are struggling with

• etc…… 

Choosing the right person 

Ideally, your coach OR mentor needs to be someone; 

• with an appreciation of the opportunities ahead of you and the challenges you are going through 

• with the ability to interpret a lot of information quickly and identify the main areas to focus on

• who you can be open with 

• who will give you honest feedback 

• who is a positive influence 

• with resources and tools you can draw on 

• who will hold you accountable 

• who (like you) is seeking to better their performance which in turn will give you more insights, tools, resources and connections to draw on

You may be able to access this support via 1-2-1 coaching or through group coaching. You can pursue a formal business coach and pay for their expertise or choose someone who you respect to mentor you. I have done both and had fantastic experiences each time.

Mastermind Groups and 1-2-1 Coaching 

To help you visualise what this support looks like in practice, here is an overview of one of my previous coaching programmes.

 An 8-person mastermind that included one to one sessions with a business coach (the same person who facilitated the mastermind group.

 Online video calls where we could all see and interact with each other.

 Every 2 weeks we shared a win and gave an update of the 2-week goal we set ourselves.

 Each session, 3 of us took our turn in the hot seat where we:

• shared a challenge we are experiencing;

• posed a question; 

• shared our thoughts on how we planned to progress our businesses, projects, departmental objectives.

The rest of the group listens and then facilitated by our business coach, we would have a brainstorming session and give feedback on the issue. 

It’s honestly amazing!!!!!

The participants in my mastermind group were based in America with women working in California, Oregon, Minnesota, Texas, Nevada, Arkansas, Michigan, Washington, and Orange county. 

The group included a pharmacist, solicitor, a branding specialist, an organisation development specialist, weight loss specialist and speech therapist.

Connecting to these highly successful entrepreneurs and receiving their support and insights has been invaluable and even though they do not operate in my field or work in the same country as me, the principles of business are universal. 

We are all on the pursuit of becoming better;

• Leaders

• Communicators 

• At Marketing service, project or product 

• At providing an amazing customer experience 

• At generating revenue 

• At managing cash flow

• At managing resources effectively 

• At making difficult decisions 

• At dealing with conflict 

• At admitting and overcoming our mistakes 

• At respectively pushing the boundaries in our industry and amongst our peers

• At developing systems and processes 

• At working within an complex environment 

• At balancing the reactive nature and forward planning elements of our work 

• At setting ambitious goals

• At managing stress 

• At people management 

My 1-2-1 session takes more of a deep dive into an aspect of my business or project and to be honest we discuss mindset a lot. 

We all know that when doubts and a negative mindset sets in, it really can derail you, so having a private space where you can share what’s on your mind gives you that boost of positivity to keep you focused on the things you can control. 

Where can you find a Business Coach?

• First, start with your personal network to see if anyone you know can make a referral 

• LinkedIn will have thousands of coaches  

• Your local small business federation or chambers of commerce should be able to point you in the right direction 

• You can start your own mastermind group with a few of your peers

A final word!

Whether you are newbie or consider yourself to be a veteran – if you're striving to be the best – you need a Coach in your All-Star Team.