Why the Most Successful Experts Work With a Coach or Mentor
Have you ever wondered what pushes some thought leaders to take that extra step towards greatness? To go from running good practices, to truly great ones?
Sometimes, from the outside, it can look and feel like these great thought leaders simply level up overnight. They start approaching business in a different way, their positioning is suddenly spot on, or you see them popping up on stages all across Australia. And suddenly their income is snowballing too.
‘How did that happen?’ you ask.
It’s like they swallowed the magic pill.
I’ll let you in on a little secret. That magic pill is probably a mentor and coach.
In my own practice, I have worked with coaches and mentors who vastly increased my reach, my engagement, my lead generation and, of course, my revenue. I’ve learned so much from each one that I’ve worked with and I would still be floundering in the trenches without their amazing support.
I’ve also worked as a coach with countless clients who went from fairly average revenue to earning six to seven figures in the thought leadership space. With the right coaching and mentoring, all of a sudden, they’re fielding interview requests and selling out events like they never have before.
The problem that experts, thought leaders and even speakers face is that we tend to work on our own. We have our own thought leadership and practices, and even though we may have a team behind us, typically we’re the only ‘experts’ in the practice. So what we’re missing is that high level strategic support that can help us make the changes in our work that will drive real growth and strategic positioning.
And that’s where coaching and mentoring (even online!) can be a real game-changer.
Benefits of working with a coach
So what are the benefits of working with a coach, and why do most successful experts have a coach on their team?
Coaches bring a commercial focus
You’re an expert in your field because you live and breathe your subject. You love learning in your space. You love developing IP and you love sharing it with people that it can really help. But just because you get a kick out of it, that doesn’t mean you should do it for free or even cheap.
I find that many thought leaders are significantly underquoting for their services. The biggest obstacle I find here is in the mind – as experts they may not know what they’re worth, may believe that there’s too much competition or may think that they can’t compete at a world-class level.
They may also struggle with imposter syndrome or with putting themselves out there in the world. If this sounds familiar, you’re doing yourself a disservice.
The third problem is that you may not know all the tips and tricks to commercialising your thought leadership. For example, most thought leaders are surprised by how much lead generation and revenue a single practice book can create. A 50,000 word book can lead to millions in revenue generated, and cost you less than $10,000 to write, edit and even publish.
As a coach, this is where my own interest and experience lies – business coaching and mentoring services that build strategic growth in a thought leader practice. Together we’ll work on your revenue growth plans and look at the pricing of your offerings, your positioning and your marketing.
My goal is to help you really commercialise your practice so you can help more people and reach more of the outcomes you’re looking for often to six- or seven-figures within a year.
Coaches can help develop your strategy & positioning
The right coach can help you take a high-level look at your practice, and create a strategy that can solidify your positioning in your industry. It’s important to remember that not all coaches can do this. You want to find a business coach that specialises in thought leadership.
I recently worked with a client who had come to me after working with another coach who had specialised in sales. Though the original coach had some good ideas about how to sell, they didn’t really understand the thought leadership world, and they had completely skipped over the steps needed to create positioning, which left my client floundering a bit.
If you’re just getting started, a VIP Strategy Day is great for nutting out a solid strategic plan for the next three to five years in your practice. We work out the next books you should write, how to leverage and licence your IP, and much more.
Coaches can help you to develop a clear message and valuable insights that will enable you to elevate your positioning.
Coaches encourage self-reflection
Having an objective third party – like a coach or mentor – on your side is invaluable. They are a person who can better assess your practice with clarity and see your strengths, weaknesses and personal challenges. This in turn encourages greater self-awareness of where you might have gaps, fears or blocks – an important skill for thought leaders.
Coaches are also excellent at helping experts to identify their blocks. We look at the underlying beliefs that may be holding you back and find ways to move past them.
Coaches also have a knack for spotting all the ways you can make changes in your business to free up your time and reset your mindset. This will allow you to work on your thought leadership and offer even more value to your clients.
Coaches bring practical solutions
The brilliant thing about engaging a coach is that we’ll never sugar-coat things. As a coach and a mentor my goal is to give you a clear strategy but also a practical game plan. Imagine a rugby coach who just said, go out and run with the ball. That’s just not going to work. High level strategies are vital, but the practical elements matter too.
Practical support from coaches help hone your practice. A coach can also guide you on better ways to lead your team by setting up practical solutions to work positively with staff and delegate, collaborate and mentor.
Finally, a business coach can assist you to develop quality content and share your message across platforms, including socials and media interviews.
Coaches build community
Building community and engaging with potential clients is hugely important for thought leaders. Coaches can help thought leaders to improve these skills, help them find more opportunities to expand their circle and teach them how to get potential clients into their community.
The Women With Influence community, for example, helps female consultants from around the world to share, strategise and support each other in a safe space. We come together in an online business coaching environment, where we can share their experiences and work together to build their network and elevate their personal brand, thought leadership and revenue.
In a world that often wants to tell us we’re not good enough, this kind of coaching community can inspire us to believe in ourselves again.
Benefits of online business coaching
Sometimes it can be hard to find the right coach or mentor for your unique practice or business. But luckily we live in the digital age – and that means you have access to online business coaching. Because of that it’s possible to cast a wide net to find just the right coach or mentor for you, even if they live across the country (or across the world).
In my own coaching practice, I work with women from all across Australia, and dotted around the world. Because thought leadership is a unique industry, it’s beneficial for them to come and work with me in an online business coaching and mentoring situation, than to work with someone who’s not as familiar with the thought leadership world but who might be in their own town.
No matter what you do – there’s going to be a perfect coach out there for you. And the digital age means that you’ll be able to access them no matter where you are.
