Below is a guest column from Jerry Baltus, a friend and professional coach.  For more great tips from Jerry, visit his site on Facebook, or contact him at jkbaltusgroup@wi.rr.com.  Enjoy.  JRI

The Biggest Loser

 Business coaching has often been compared to athletic coaching, and I’ve used this analogy many times to help others understand what we do.  One of the main concepts that is similar between the two is the idea that coaches recommend conditioning and exercises, set up the game plan and motivate the athlete, but ultimately it’s the athlete that plays the game and wins or loses based on their ability to compete effectively.

My new favorite analogy uses the trainers on “The Biggest Loser” television show.  If you’ve seen this program, you know that trainers Jillian and Bob are critical to the success of the competitors in achieving their weight loss goals.  They do it with excellent coaching skills that get results even for those who are “not the Biggest Loser!”  Let’s look at the similarities with business coaching.

• Jillian and Bob don’t seem to set weight loss goals for the competitors.  Instead they set life goals.  They discuss the question of “what do you want your life to look like?” which is a much higher motivational subject than the simple goal of losing an arbitrary number of pounds.  In business coaching we often start with the same idea because our businesses ought to support our lives and can only do so when we are clear about what our life should look like.

• Jillian and Bob don’t live with the competitors, who seem to be on their own for a good part of their day.  They can’t lose the weight for them.  So Bob & Jillian come in, go to the gym, guide the workouts and leave.  Business coaches (which may be very different from consultants) do not work in the business with the client.  Rather they meet, measure and review progress, help set new tasks and leave the client to enact the goals agreed upon.

• “The Biggest Loser” trainers teach.  They educate the competitors about diet, food properties, proper exercise techniques, how the body uses energy and more.  Education is a huge component of business coaching as well, as it gives owners options for overcoming hurdles, ideas for better systems and best practices that have proven results in other similar situations.

• Trainers Bob and Jillian are amazing motivators.  One minute they are screaming at a competitor to push through to the end of a difficult routine and the next minute they are sitting down quietly and asking questions about their emotional well-being or hugging them for a job well done.  In my business coaching practice, I admit I don’t do much screaming.  But we do provide frank, sometimes painful assessment of what we see of a client’s business that an owner might be in denial about.  And we celebrate our clients’ successes to reinforce the positive behavior that caused them.

• “The Biggest Loser” keeps score.  Every week the contestants have to get on the scale to see the stark reality of the weight they’ve lost… or not!  Contestants also learn to count their calories, read food labels, and in other ways measure their progress.  Keeping score is part of business coaching as well and is actually a motivator as clients see progress and validation of their efforts.

If you’re curious about what a business coach does, hopefully this analogy helps.  Who do you know who would like help creating a business that supports their life goals?  Or who would value someone to teach and measure progress but leave them to do the work?  Or who could use the motivation and accountability to accomplish their goals?  Or who needs help figuring out how to keep score in their business?  Ask them to give us a call:  920-449-5130

Your success is our only business!

Jerry Baltus

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