Every great athlete has been coached to achieve their success. Likewise, to achieve great success in business, every owner needs to have a Business Coach.

- Brad Sugars -

Everyone knows, and accepts, that sporting stars need coaches. Without them great athletes simply wouldn’t succeed. Yet in most cases, the coach isn’t as good a player as the person being coached. And while these coaches probably never reached the same heights of greatness as the players, but that doesn’t detract from the need for a coach.

Even leading politicians and government department heads are surrounded by teams of advisors. It would be inconceivable not to have them. Every successful actor works under the watchful eye of an accomplished director, and the world’s best musicians still follow the dictates of a conductor.

So what is it about business people? Why don’t they, as a matter of course, have Business Coaches?

Well, this is now changing, with more and more business people realizing that in today’s fast-paced business environment, there’s no way they can stay abreast of developments, let alone ahead of them. The case for a Business Coach has become unassailable. Well, to those serious about success, it has.

And it’s no shame to have to accept the critique of an outside business expert. People in business have been listening to the advice of others for ages. Only it’s usually been from the wrong people. Family, friends and colleagues have all featured prominently as “confidants,” but at what cost?

You see, the fact of the matter is that if you model your business on someone else’s, chances are you’ll reap the same results they did.

Let’s put it this way: If you want to bake a different cake, you need to use a different recipe. It’s no good using someone’s success secrets or tips, and then expect to get different results to that which they achieved. If you want to model yourself on someone – and many do, and it’s a very sound philosophy – at least choose a winner! Why model yourself on an ordinary person? And equally, why model your business on a mediocre one?

But there’s another important factor to bear in mind, and that’s objectivity.

When you’re running a company, it’s very difficult to get an objective and honest answer to a problem from yourself. You’ve invariably got vested interests that sway your thinking. Pet likes and dislikes can also ruin the best-intended business plans.

Business owners these days tend to spend far too much time working IN their business rather than ON it. It’s probably always been that way. However, to succeed, this has to change. It’s the single biggest impediment to success that I’ve come across in all the thousands of companies I’ve worked with. Yet it’s understandable.

You see, when the vast majority of business owners first dreamed the dream of “going it alone,” they ventured out into the world of business by sticking to their field of expertise. A hairdresser opened a hairdressing salon, a motor mechanic opened a mechanical workshop and a printer opened a printing business. Sounds logical enough, but the reality is all they achieved was buying themselves another job. And one in which they would be destined to work longer and harder than ever before, and for little or no financial reward.

It sounds crazy, and it is. That’s because they end up working IN the job instead of ON the business.

It would have been far more sensible had that aspiring businessperson opened a business in which they had no previous experience or expertise. Sounds crazy? Absolutely not. They would then have had no option but to work ON the business, relying instead on the expertise of team members who would actually DO the work.

This is one secret of success.

Sounds too simple? Then read on. This book is about ordinary business people achieving astonishing results through business coaching. It’s all about stepping back, taking a good hard look at their business, setting some very definite personal and business goals – and appointing a Business Coach to get them there.

Understand this: the Business Coach is the only person who can see the forest for the trees. As in sports, it’s the coach who’ll ensure you stay focused on the game, who’ll make you run more laps than you thought you could (or should), and who’ll tell it like it is.

The Business Coach is also the only person you can hire who’ll act like your marketing manager, sales director, training coordinator, partner, confidant, mentor and best friend – all rolled into one.

Does having a Business Coach guarantee you’ll achieve success? The answer is NO, and for a very good reason.

You see, although the Business Coach will be there to guide you every step along the way, it’s still up to you to take to the field and play the game. It is your business, after all.

You’ve got to actually do the work, because you’re the only one who can be truly accountable. And when you get there, your success will be all the sweeter for it.

It’s all about accountability. This is such an important concept to understand, because it’s fundamental to achieving success, not only in your business life, but in your private life as well.

And it’s something that should remain constantly in the forefront of your mind. It’s so important I’m going to spend some time putting it into perspective.

Let’s get imaginative for a while. Imagine there’s a line that separates people into two basic categories. Think of it as a horizontal line.

People live their lives – and it can be their business or private lives — below the line or above it.

The first thing those who live below the line do is to BLAME other people. They come up with EXCUSES. They DENY what they are doing or what is going on is their fault.

They blame the economy for their poor performance in business, they use their difficult boss as an excuse for their lack of progress, or they deny their marriage break-up had anything to do with them. If this sounds like you, it means you are a VICTIM.

Those who play above the line say, “OK, let’s take OWNERSHIP of our situation. Let’s take RESPONSIBILITY for our actions … let’s be ACCOUNTABLE.”

If you play above the line, you’re basically taking responsibility for your life. You’re saying you’re accountable for your results. You’re saying you’re not a VICTIM; you’re a VICTOR.

You’re saying you’re in charge of your life.

You might be surprised to learn that 95% of people live their lives below the line. Most just bumble along blaming others for their lot in life, and living their life in denial. If you want to succeed, you’ve got to shift into the zone above the line. That may take a quantum leap in your belief patterns. It may also require you to challenge the way you view life. But do whatever it takes.

Take control of your life – and assume the responsibility – and you’ll be amazed at how you suddenly start making progress towards achieving the things you previously only ever dreamed of.

One other key point to achieving success is allowing yourself to fail every now and then. Allow yourself to make mistakes. If it’s not OK to fail or make mistakes, you won’t try new things. Instead, every time you try something new, you’ll throw your hands up and say, “Wow, that’s far enough. Don’t go any further.”

The ability to fail is the sign of a true leader.

Remember, perfection leads to pain. Strive for excellence instead. This, of course, is something we are all ill-equipped for, as it’s something that’s not even touched on at school or university. We are not trained to succeed in business.

To succeed in business, we need to radically change the way we think. You see, our current education system is geared towards producing SPECIALISTS.

But to truly succeed in business, you need to be a GENERALIST. Let me explain …

Henry Ford knew one of the secrets to true entrepreneurial success. It’s a common sense secret that is the opposite of everything we’re taught as a specialist employee.

“When I need to know about finance, I call in my finance manager and ask him all the questions I need to have answered. The same goes for any other subject,” Ford said.

In other words, the smartest leaders in the world employ specialists who are smarter than they are.

Henry Ford knew what every great entrepreneur knows …

Being an entrepreneur is about becoming a generalist rather than a specialist.

A specialist (often known as an employee) is easily replaceable. A specialist is taught to follow. A specialist ends up working for a living, rather than living a life.

Let me explain …

Working in a job, you have about l/3rd of your pay taken off in taxes, about l/3rd taken to pay your mortgage or rent and even more to pay for your car(s) and so on. Eventually you’ve got just enough left over to EXIST on.

Generalists, on the other hand, think for themselves. They are great leaders, they take on the risks and reap the rewards from things like tax deductions, and, more importantly, they collect long-term income from the work they do today and every other day.

They also enjoy the profits, as well as so much more.

The generalist, the person I refer to as the entrepreneur, works today to make money for the long-term. They work to build wealth rather than make income.

In school, we’re taught to learn exactly what we’re told, how we were told it, and when we were told it. Plus, you get good grades as long as you repeat it back in your tests exactly as it was taught in the books.

Even teachers are taught to follow the system. In the military every soldier is taught to follow orders. Only the GENERAL(ist) is taught to think for himself and to make decisions.

In the business world, employees are taught to acquire higher and higher levels of education, to specialize, to work hard, and to make enough income to pay their taxes, the mortgage, and then to exist until retirement.

True entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are required to be generalists, to think a lot and work a little, to take profits, write off expenses before paying taxes, and live the life of their dreams.

In the truest sense of the word, generalists are leaders. They live by the ideal that it’s better to have 1 % of one hundred people’s efforts than 100% of their own.

Becoming a generalist is the first major task of anyone considering venturing into business for himself or herself.

It’s the single biggest mindset change all employees who want to start their own businesses must make.

Being the best at your trade, your profession or your job in no way means that you’ll succeed in the world of entrepreneurial business. In fact, this is often the biggest hindrance to the success of most businesses.

Making this mindset change isn’t easy – it involves radically altering the very way you think and perceive. Yet it must be done. And it must be maintained when attempted. Like quitting smoking, you can do it on your own, but it’s very, very difficult. You’ll have much better success with professional help.

Business is no different. You can go it alone, or you can do it so much quicker and with more certainty with a Business Coach.

The choice is yours.