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‘It’s just common sense isn’t it!’

A coaching client said this to me recently. And yes, she was right, it was common sense – to her anyway. We were talking about sales, she had worked in sales the whole of her life, so talking about the customer and the customer’s point of view was common sense to her.

But to the accountants, researchers and scientists in the room it was not common sense. They had internal functions in the company. They never met the customers and were not required to. Common sense to them was the function of a product, the cost analysis of the parts required, the logistics and the financial impact.

Good communication inside a business is not always about the obvious, it is not always about the senior team communicating (or not!) the vision and goals of the company. Sometimes it is about putting a team together who will each use their own common sense to get the job done!

In this case, adding a salesperson into a team making product development decisions provided the team with someone who would bring the customer’s viewpoint to a discussion that would otherwise have been about the internal viewpoint.

However no one had told her why she was there. And therefore she could not see her worth to the team. She thought what she brought to the table was common sense and therefore had no value compared to the technical and financial knowledge in the room.

We spoke about what common sense is and she realised that it is only common sense to her! To the others in the room it was a valid input to their decision making and without her being there the customer would not have been considered. So she did have worth to the team and that gave her the confidence to go to the next meeting and speak up with confidence.

So whilst the Collins dictionary defines common sense as…

Your common sense is your natural ability to make good judgments and to behave in a practical and sensible way

Collins Dictionary

…I would contend that in business, common sense is only common sense if that is your role, otherwise it is specific sense!

What lessons can the senior team learn from this example?

When setting up a team communication is vital. Whilst it may seem obvious to you as the leader why you need each person in the team, it is essential to make sure each team member understands that. In this case, a senior salesperson had been part of a team for a number of months. Although she was speaking up and expressing her point of view, she could not see the value of this to the team. By asking her about the experience of other members of the team compared to her own experience we were able to show that she was bringing a perspective that others couldn’t. Although she saw the perspective she was bringing as just common sense, in fact she was asking questions that no one else could or would.

Consider meeting with the members of the team and asking them what they think they are there for and ensuring that they see they have value to the team. This can be done individually, or all together. If the team has been running for a while and is already productive then consider meeting only with the individuals who you think are struggling. If the team is new then use it as one of the exercises in forming the team, perhaps asking them to tell each other what value they can bring.

Jacqui Hanbury is the Managing Director of The Pathway Communication Company Limited and is a specialist in helping you find the thing that is stopping your business from achieving as much as it could be. Follow her on LinkedIn to find out more.

The Pathway Communication Company Ltd provides a personalised plan to help you and your business move forward. We might help you set goals, a strategy, a communication plan, facilitate a meeting, be a coach or mentor. Whatever it takes. Find out more at: www.pathwaycc.co.uk

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What can we do? We often try to solve this by talking it through with friends and family, which brings a different perspective – but can then confuse us more as they bring their opinion into the mix – adding to the problem instead of diminishing it!

A client was having exactly this problem.  Trying to drum up new business he was working hard in the channels and industries he had been successful in before.  However these industries were struggling which meant that even though he was doing all the right things he wasn’t getting many enquiries.  While I was chatting and asking questions about what he did outside of his business he told me that he had a degree in a totally unrelated field.  I asked him if he had ever looked for clients in this area.  He was quite surprised as in his head he had never linked his hobby with his work!  By helping him to rise above the issue we have now identified a whole other area that he can look for business in.  Would he have got there on his own? I am not sure but it would certainly have taken longer!

This is where a good coach can help, by bringing another perspective and thinking about the problem from different angles.  Can I help you think differently?

Jacqui Hanbury is the Managing Director of The Pathway Communication Company Limited and is a specialist in helping you find the thing that is stopping your business from achieving as much as it could be. Follow her on LinkedIn to find out more.

The Pathway Communication Company Ltd provides a personalised plan to help you and your business move forward. We might help you set goals, a strategy, a communication plan, facilitate a meeting, be a coach or mentor. Whatever it takes. Find out more at: www.pathwaycc.co.uk

The post How a coaching question can change your perspective! appeared first on The Pathway Communication Company.

Many people do not have experience of coaching in a business environment, in most people’s experience coaching is associated with sport. A coach in sport is defined as an ‘instructor or trainer’.  They teach, tutor, educate their pupils or team. 

An executive or business coach typically doesn’t offer information. 

Their skills lie in listening and asking questions to help their client work out an answer for themselves.  However skilled we are at self analysis and making decisions, sometimes we get tangled in our thoughts and we are unable to see clearly through the fog. Talking through the issue with a coach can untangle your thinking and help you come to a decision.

A couple of examples …

• A senior executive in a large company who is not sure if there are opportunities for her or whether she needs to look elsewhere.  This is not a question I can answer, and neither can she!  But what I can do is ask her questions and give her some tools (in this case create a mind map ) to start to find the answers herself.  I will meet with her again in a few weeks after she has mapped out the issues and has a clearer picture of the options. We will then talk through specific parts of the map she has created to start to unravel her thinking.
• A manager who has just joined an organisation and is having issues with one of his staff.  The member of staff is not communicating well in meetings or on a one-to-one basis. He is unsure if the problem is him or the staff member.  We discussed the way he works and compared it to the way she works. He recognised through talking that actually they work in a similar way – this led him to set a series of actions that meant he changed the way he talked to her. I will meet with him again to see how this worked and what further steps, if any, he needs to take.

Both are situations that can be dealt with alone, but it is hard! And you make a decision and then second guess yourself!

I can help! By listening, showing empathy and picking up on specific phrases or comments you make I can ask questions which lead you to clarify your thoughts and perhaps help you to think about your issue from a different perspective.

To find out more and experience executive coaching for yourself then contact me.

Jacqui Hanbury is the Managing Director of The Pathway Communication Company Limited and is a specialist in helping you find the thing that is stopping your business from achieving as much as it could be. Follow her on LinkedIn to find out more.

The Pathway Communication Company Ltd provides a personalised plan to help you and your business move forward. We might help you set goals, a strategy, a communication plan, facilitate a meeting, be a coach or mentor. Whatever it takes. Find out more at: www.pathwaycc.co.uk

The post Executive Coaching? What is it and what can it offer me? appeared first on The Pathway Communication Company.

Coaching can help! As a fellow small business owner and a business coach, I can help untangle your mind and put an action plan in place to help you decide what to do next – and what not to do yet.

It fascinates me to listen to a creative business owner talking passionately about all the ideas they have and then helping them to slow down; talk through each one and see them start to form solid plans to put each idea into practice!  They feel so excited that the plans are going to come to fruition. And how amazing for me to see them move forward instead of being frustrated that the ideas are there but with no progress. 

A garden designer is created!

One of my former clients is a garden designer but due to family circumstances she mostly does garden maintenance at the moment.  She is very creative (as you can imagine!) and was itching to move forward with all the designs she has in her head; she particularly loves adding water features to gardens and combining the different features. 

She had ideas but no plans as to how to move her business forward to get the clients she needed to become a garden designer. Over a series of online coaching sessions we uncovered and discussed the different ideas she had, crystallising them into actions which she then carried out between our sessions.  She now has a new business name, a website, business cards and is promoting herself as a garden designer.  She has already done some quotes and is starting to win some business.  Her creative side can now truly come out as she designs some amazing gardens! 

So the answer to the question: “Can Creative people benefit from coaching?” is yes! When you are paralysed by the ideas and have no idea how to put them into action call me!

Jacqui Hanbury is the Managing Director of The Pathway Communication Company Limited and is a specialist in helping you find the thing that is stopping your business from achieving as much as it could be. Follow her on LinkedIn to find out more.

The Pathway Communication Company Ltd provides a personalised plan to help you and your business move forward. We might help you set goals, a strategy, a communication plan, facilitate a meeting, be a coach or mentor. Whatever it takes. Find out more at: www.pathwaycc.co.uk

The post Can solo business owners benefit from coaching? appeared first on The Pathway Communication Company.

Initially, it was great, with a really encouraging group.  But I was one of the only ones who had not run before and I started to fall behind the others.  They had a policy where they would stop and wait when someone fell behind – but then I felt guilty for holding everyone up.  But I kept going. And then on one run, I was at the back of the group and two women had been asked to stay at the back to ensure no one was lost.  They were close behind me the whole time – chatting and totally ignoring me.  At one point they even passed me and then realised and came back and asked why I was so slow!  I stopped going after that. 

Then, last year, I was seeing a physio for some back pain and she told me about another running group. They were so friendly with a run/walk group that I joined that week.  I started mostly walking, progressing to more and more running, until finally, with a lot of encouragement, I ran 5k . And although I was often at the back of the group, this time it was OK. This time I was encouraged and supported. The run leaders had empathy of how hard I found it (let’s face it I am not built for running!). And they had a theory that they then shared with me:

You have to take care of the slowest ones in the group as if you don’t then they will stop coming. Then someone else will be the slowest and if you don’t care for and encourage them they will stop coming. Then if you don’t care for the next person they will stop coming. (You get the picture!). And eventually, you have no group.

What a great philosophy and so different to the first group.  

Unfortunately, I hurt my hip and had to stop for a few months, and the group have now started a Couch to 5k which we started last night.  The same ethos and the same enthusiasm!  I know I will run 5k again, this time hopefully a bit faster – and all with the support and encouragement of this amazing group! 

I got to thinking about the difference between the two clubs – the expertise in running a group was the same, the qualifications as run leaders were the same. But the second group was encouraging, took care of everyone and went above and beyond in how they cared for me. And I stuck with them and even went back again when life got in the way.    

Coaches in sport work in the same way, getting the best out of their teams when they are encouraging and have empathy.  And business coaches are the same!  If you have a business coach that is not your biggest encourager then maybe they are not the right one. 

And if you are looking for someone to help you look to what the future holds, set goals and be accountable to – then ensure it is someone who will encourage you! 

Are you an encourager? Who have you been encouraged by?

Jacqui Hanbury is the Managing Director of The Pathway Communication Company Limited and is a specialist in helping you find the thing that is stopping your business from achieving as much as it could be. Follow her on LinkedIn to find out more.

The Pathway Communication Company Ltd provides a personalised plan to help you and your business move forward. We might help you set goals, a strategy, a communication plan, facilitate a meeting, be a coach or mentor. Whatever it takes. Find out more at: www.pathwaycc.co.uk

The post How to be an encourager? appeared first on The Pathway Communication Company.