Most successful sports person understand the purpose of a great and good coach. Teams that have won accolades have employed the best coaches. In most businesses, that seems not to case.
An executive coach, coach trainer and leadership facilitator, Dumisani Magadlela tells us the importance of a business coach.
Magadlela works for the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) and hold a PhD in Development Sociology. I had a exclusive moment hearing what he had to say about business coaching.
Below are the excerpts: JN: What is business coaching?
DM: Business coaching is where by a business person who is interested in growing their business engages a trained professional coach who is certified in business coaching, to assist them to grow their business or take their business where they envision it needs to go.
JN: Does every business need a coach?
DM: I would say, unequivocally yes! Any business that intends to grow or go anywhere, to be successful, to be resilient needs business coaching.
JN: From your experiences and expertise what are the specific areas that you think people or business should be coached in?
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DM: One of the important points is around leadership integrity.
We find that most business leaders take deals that are either corruptive or undercuts their values or sell them short on their desired values for their businesses.
There is need to strengthen the value basis for many leaders and for their business to be sustainable over time.
They need to start from the base where they need to respect why they are in business in the first place. So that’s a value based leadership.
So coaches that are invested in growing business need to work with business people from that point of view.
If the business is not value based or the leaders are not ethical, we find that they miss the point in that.
So the leaders need to know themselves. Training ethics, integrity, governance issues need to be primary in every business as they start up.
JN: What is the importance of discipline when being coached?
DM: Discipline is what most people take for granted. Discipline talks to the focus. Am I focused enough on what I need to do? Good and effective discipline helps people to deliver on their goals and their tasks.
Any coach that arrives late for their business meeting or any business person that does not meet their targets or their goals and commitment to their clients is sliding on slippery slopes.
Discipline is the primary ingredient. It starts inherently with yourself.
Am I disciplined in myself, in who I am and what I said I am going to do and in sticking and staying with that and delivering what I have said I will deliver?
JN: Through business coaching, can we take someone from ground zero to being a millionaire?
DM: It has actually happened many times, where a business person who is struggling gets a coach and succeeds in a reasonable time as long as they are disciplined and focused on that and have a clear plan on what they need to do, understanding their market or operational space.
It’s very important for the business person to understand what they are in for and into so that they work with a coach with a clear goal on what they want to achieve.
Normally, businesses that have business coaches succeed with a reasonable space of time as long as they stick to the programme that they agreed to.
JN: What’s the difference between coaching and mentoring?
DM: Mentors in business must be people that have succeeded in their own business. Coaching requires someone who understands business generally.
Coaches have to understand that their clients have their own targets. Mentoring and coaching combined can make a business person succeed better than a person who employs one of the two.
JN: As one looks for a business coach what qualities do they hunt for?
DM: First find someone who has an understanding in basic principles of business and they are doing coaching.
Identify someone that has credibility, integrity, and someone who has a track record of achieving their own goal because you can’t coach or mentor some if you are a failure already.
There has got to be a level of excellence. This is why in coaching we insist in accreditation.
JN: What would your final word of motivation be to someone who has a dream to be in business, but they are not yet there?
DM: Understand who you are. Honour who you are.
Stand for your values and as a human being. Understand that you are here for a reason to make a difference. Identify, understand and focus on what you are good at and what difference you can make. When you know that and it resonates with your purpose of existence, you will succeed.
For more money tips and advices go to www.successlife.co.zw, call 0772 581 918, e-mail: [email protected] Jonah Nyoni is an author, success coach and motivational speaker.
