Coaching: Essential Steps to Make the Most of Your Experience
Less than 33% of sales professionals are hitting quota today.
Over the last year sales has gotten even harder and professional coaching has become an invaluable tool for personal and professional development.
Whether you're a sales professional looking to improve your performance or a business leader seeking to enhance your capabilities, understanding how to maximise your coaching experience is crucial for success.
This blog is rooted in my experience and what I have found help me move from strength-to-strength. I tend to caveat a lot of my writing, particularly when it comes to personal development with "This is A WAY, not THE ONLY WAY to move towards the things that you want". These writings are designed to give you a perspective and tools to help you formulate the best way that works for you.
Coaching is designed to uncover the best way for you.
“Coaching isn't therapy. It's product development, with you as the product."
- Fast Company Magazine
Here, I’ve outlined what I have seen make a great coaching relationship so that you can:
1/ Have a great time!
2/ See measurable improvements in performance.
3/ Understand yourself a bit better.
Lets kick off with some foundations:
Understanding Your Core Values: The Foundation of Growth
Understanding your values is the first step toward meaningful coaching and growth. Your values are the compass that guides your behaviour and decision-making processes. Before embarking on your coaching journey, it's essential to identify and understand what truly matters to you. These core values will not only influence your goals but also determine the sustainability of any changes you implement through coaching.
“Values are like fingerprints. Nobody’s are the same, but you leave them all over everything you do.”
– Elvis Presley
To explore and find what matter most to you read this and do the 5 minute exercise:
Setting a Vision: Focusing on the "Who" Rather Than the "What"
One of the most powerful aspects of coaching is its ability to help you transform not just what you do, but who you become. Rather than focusing solely on specific skills or achievements (which are incredibly important to assess your desired success milestones) effective coaching helps you envision and work toward becoming the person you aspire to be.
"The best coaching relationships help you become the person you need to be to achieve what you want to achieve."
- Marshall Goldsmith
You can take a deeper dive into some of my thoughts here:
Goal Setting and Framework Implementation
Success in coaching requires clear direction and measurable objectives. Goals provide you a target to move towards.
Utilising proven frameworks such as SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound), WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan), or GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Way Forward) can provide structure to your development journey.
Aligning your goals with your vision and values helps keep them sustainable. Our motivation can often slip when “life gets in the way” so these goal-setting tools help keep the feeling of progress alive.
Identifying what drives and inspires you is crucial for maintaining momentum in your coaching journey. These motivators become powerful tools during challenging times and help sustain long-term commitment to your development goals.
"Goals are not the destination; they are the compass that keeps us moving in the right direction."
- Simon Sinek
You can get started on this here:
Navigating Your Internal Challenges and Imposter Syndrome
When embarking on a coaching journey, it's natural to experience internal resistance and self-doubt. Many professionals face imposter syndrome, questioning whether they're capable of achieving their goals or worthy of success. Understanding that these feelings are normal and part of the growth process is crucial for progress. You're starting down an unfamiliar path so its natural to feel a little uneasy.
Chatter, a book by Ethan Kross gives some excellent tactical tools to help you master your internal voice and keep moving forward.
This also might be helpful for you: https://www.gregorymeehan.com/post/master-your-mindset
The Power of Honesty and Open Communication
I'll keep this short and sweet....Transparency with your coach is non-negotiable for successful outcomes. Being open about your challenges, fears, and areas for improvement allows your coach to provide targeted guidance and support. This honesty creates a foundation for identifying and bridging skill gaps effectively.
This is why finding a coach you can trust is incredibly important.
Referrals and testimonials are your go-to when it comes to assessing who might be the right one for you. If that's not possible, then some trial sessions might be more appropriate to see if there's a 'fit'
Active Engagement Through Questioning
Asking thoughtful questions demonstrates engagement and helps clarify understanding. It's not just about receiving guidance; it's about actively participating in your development process. It shows you care.
Quality questions lead to quality answers and deeper insights.
"The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions."
- Tony Robbins
Frequency and Consistency AND Accountability
Success in coaching requires regular engagement and willingness to be held accountable.
Frequent sessions with a consistent agenda maintain momentum and provide opportunities for course correction and celebration of progress.
Depending on your experience with coaching and your sales process/ velocity, normally more frequent sessions to start with build momentum and create a more immersive experience to help you quickly form different habits and ways of working.
Starting weekly and assessing the impact of each session can help with adjusting the frequency later on. Sometimes sessions can start less frequent and its difficult to determine whether or not the sessions are having a real impact.
Leveraging Data for Growth
Activity and performance data should be viewed as a tool for improvement rather than a judgment mechanism. Using CRM data effectively in conversations with your coach can identify patterns, highlight areas for improvement, and measure progress over time.
By focusing on outputs and analysing the inputs that led to them, you can refine your strategies and achieve better results. As Clive Humby aptly put it, “Data is the new oil. It’s valuable, but if unrefined, it cannot really be used.”
Data creates focus on the most pressing areas taht can really move the performance needle
Be prepared with your data to discuss at your coaching sessions. If you don't have it in place, that will be your step 1!
A last note: The Journey of Habit Formation
Remember that coaching often involves breaking old habits and forming new ones. This process requires patience, persistence, consistency, and understanding that discomfort is part of growth. Regular learning and up-skilling in identified gap areas support this transformation. Skill-gap areas can be identified using your data as well as through conversation. (The data tells part of the story but not the whole story)
James Clear (The King of Habits!) writes:
Start Small: Begin with habits so small that they’re impossible to fail. For example, if you want to start exercising, commit to just two minutes of activity initially.
Focus on Identity, Not Outcomes: Shift your mindset to focus on who you want to become, not just the results. For instance, instead of saying “I want to run a marathon,” say “I am a runner.”
The 1% Rule: Consistent small improvements compound over time. A 1% daily improvement leads to significant change in the long run.
Environment Matters: Design your environment to make good habits easier and bad habits harder. For instance, place healthy snacks in visible locations.
Track Progress: Use habit tracking to stay motivated and measure consistency.
Avoid the “All or Nothing” Mentality: Missing a habit once isn’t a failure. Focus on getting back on track immediately.
Master the Plateau of Latent Potential: Understand that habits take time to show results. Trust the process and persist through periods of little visible progress.
“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.”
- James Clear
Effective coaching is a powerful catalyst for personal and professional growth, but its success depends largely on your approach and commitment. By understanding and implementing these essential elements, you can maximise the value of your coaching experience and achieve sustainable transformation.
Whether you're in sales, leadership, or any other professional field, remember that coaching is an investment in your future self. The journey will be hard and will challenge you, but the rewards are worthwhile.
The path to excellence through coaching is well-documented and proven. By following these guidelines and remaining committed to your development, you too can join the ranks of professionals who have leveraged coaching to achieve extraordinary results. I know I did.
If this was helpful you might also find some of these resources helpful too: https://www.gregorymeehan.com/resources
You can also find some daily sales stuff here too:
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