Are you an Emotionally Intelligent Leader?

Every organisation needs a leader. In fact, every individual within an organisation at some stage will be called upon to display leadership qualities. It is not the exclusive domain of the Chief Executive Officer. It begs the question what qualities make for a good leader? According to Kouzes and Posner authors of the widely acclaimed “The Leadership Challenge” there are five practices of exemplary leadership. They are:

1.    Model the way – clarify your personal values and set the example for others to follow by walking your talk. Model the behaviour that you expect of others. The most potent form of adult learning is through doing and the easiest way to learn what to do is to observe and copy. Executive coaches use role-plays with clients to play out scenarios and improve skills levels. The demonstration of you living your values through your actions is critical for your credibility as a leader.

2.    Inspire a shared vision – open you mind and share the future possibilities of what might be for your business and your staff. Engage an independent facilitator to conduct offsite-planning sessions in a participatory manner with key staff. Techniques such as brainstorming, mind mapping and scenario planning are also handy. Once the high level strategic vision has been crafted then franchisees can, in turn, meet with their staff to create marketing and operational plans in the same manner.

3.    Challenge the process – encourage a culture of risk taking and proactivity amongst staff that has them feeling empowered to make decisions. Of course you need to find the balance with prudent internal controls in place. People will make mistakes, what you want is to create a climate of trust, support and a learning environment with a quick cycle time to prevent the same mistakes being made. Foster a feedback loop where people learn from their mistakes and search for innovative ways to change, grow and improve.

4.    Enable others to act – delegate authority and set clear performance expectations. Clearly defined goals framed through a collaborative goal setting process will help staff feel part of the big picture and also liberate their lateral thinking capability. They will operate in the bigger context rather than a vacuum.

5.    Encourage the heart – recognise the contributions of staff and show appreciation with a mix of financial and non-financial rewards. These may range from a pat on the back, employee of the month certificate, public or private acknowledgement or a simple thank you for a job well done. Ken Blanchard, author of “The One Minute Manager” coined the phrase ‘catch people doing things right’. Surveys have shown that acknowledgements are one of the most effective, cheapest and yet underused forms of performance recognition.
Take time out to celebrate victories – this serves to bond staff members, build effective teams and staff morale.

One of the strengths of the business franchise system is the detailed operational processes and procedures to be followed. This removes much of the guesswork at the operational and even marketing level. However one thing remains as sure as night follows day and that is everyone is different and has different values, attitudes and beliefs. The leadership challenge is to embrace the cultural and personal differences and work with them rather than against them.

Cultural Diversity

It takes courage to detach oneself from the values, attitudes and beliefs that are deeply ingrained in our psyche. Remaining open and non-judgemental is essential to effective leadership. Cultural diversity offers a way of reframing problems through different perspectives. When brainstorming the quickest way to get an alternate perspective is to ask someone else.

The Soft Stuff

Many professional development programs I have come across focus on technical skills to the exclusion of emotional intelligence. Why? Generally because Return on Investment (ROI) is more easily tracked to measures of output, eg profits, sales, customers.

Within companies there is much lip service paid to the notion of ‘people are our greatest resource’. I find that people skills, especially communications, relationships and emotions (eg self-esteem, confidence, rejection, fear, love) are the areas that present the greatest challenge not the technical areas.

Our business environment is complex, highly regulated and with a clear and present danger of litigation hanging over our heads should we breach our obligations. Yet we rely inevitably rely on the co-operation of people (customers, staff, shareholders, suppliers) to get the job done. People skills permeate every waking moment of our lives – both at home and at work.

Critics of the new age movement dismiss talk of emotions in the workplace as ‘soft stuff’, which serve to detract from running a profitable commercial enterprise. Daniel Goleman in ‘Emotional Intelligence’ writes of people having two minds – an emotional mind and a rational mind and of the need for them to co-exist in partnership for an individual to be fully effective as a person and leader.

Stephen Covey in ‘Principle Centred Leadership’ distinguishes between transactional leadership and transformational leadership. To truly transform your staff and your organisation you need to incorporate three key elements:

-          ethos (ethics)

-          pathos (emotions)

-          logos (logic)

This body of work emphasises the need for work/life balance and a holistic approach to wellbeing. This is a place for the expression of emotions in the workplace. An appropriate expression is the key. Suppression of emotions is unhealthy.

Business analysts use predictive success measures (lead indicators) to anticipate future results. Similarly in the field of preventative health or wellness there is a growing trend to preventative treatments. There is a growing body of research suggesting that the alignment of personal values and company values is central to performance. The field of consumer behaviour has long held the view that emotions are the driving force behind most buying decisions. So, we see that to be an effective salesperson it is necessary to understand emotional intelligence.

It is not just a warm and fuzzy phenomenon but it is grounded in commercial reality – if you can identify the underlying emotional cues you are well positioned to make the sale.

Active listening

The skill of active listening is to listen for the meaning conveyed through the words, tone and body language. A prominent dating expert in the USA suggests that “attraction is not a choice” but rather operates at your deeper emotional core. The same is true for consumer psychology and elements of rapport building.

The four dimensions

An integrated understanding of the intellectual, physical, emotional and spiritual energy forces make for a truly great leader. At an intellectual level whatever you give energy to with your thoughts will tend to manifest in your life. To master your intellectual dimension use affirmations, and catch yourself thinking negative thoughts immediately and replace them with positive self-talk.

For spiritual mastery practice meditation or prayer, find a quiet place to relax and unwind. Make it ritual. Set aside time when you cannot be disturbed.

We drain our emotional energy when we suppress our emotions. I found acting classes to be enormously beneficial to release emotional energy. Being at play and laughing have huge emotional benefits. The range of movement – physical, vocal and emotional heightens your self-expression.

Maintaining a healthy diet and being physically fit and active is essential to function let alone to operate at peak performance.

How do you become a better leader?

Leadership must come from the inside out. The more you have your act together and an unwavering confidence in yourself the more this energy will radiate outward and be felt by those around you. Here are seven areas for you to focus on:

1.    Self-awareness – if things don’t work out set aside time at the end of the day to reflect and learn from your experiences; actively invite constructive feedback from customers and staff on a regular basis; develop a strong sense of self; practice effective time management – plan and review your day, learn and improve.

2.    Build rapport with people – learn how to actively listen and refrain from solving the worlds’ problems. One wise scribe referred to this move as ‘resigning his position as captain of the universe’; make yourself available and be easy to approach and open minded; express appreciation regularly.

3.    Set clear expectations – having stated your expectations “My expectations of you are …” then invite buy in “… is that reasonable?” or invite the other party to paraphrase “I’ve shared my expectations with you, can you paraphrase for me your understanding of I expect from you?”

4.    Identify the need to lead – display astute business sense in every situation; speak to alternative sources to discover the facts; focus on short and long-term issues; test and measure results of change.

5.    Determine a course of action – take the most important action first; consider your options; offer direction that is doable; take decisive action and know when to abandon a course of action.

6.    Develop others as leaders – attract staff who want to develop their leadership skills; coach and train those with leadership potential; allow others the freedom to resolve issues; work with individuals at their own pace of learning.

7.    Build commitment  - clarify roles and seek commitment; demonstrate the impact of actions; form alliances with key people; build credibility with every action.

There have been hundreds of books written on the topic of leadership and it remains one of the most sought after learning and development streams.  I encourage you to take action on the items herein that resonate with you and seek out your own role model. Being an effective leader will help you reach your goals quicker than anything else you may choose.

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Coaching for Performance

Improving skills and behaviour is the key to bettering employee performance and the results they produce, says Dennis Roberts, but achieving this is not straightforward when you are dealing with emotional as well as rational beings.

Lawyers, accountants and management consultants share one thing in common they are all professional advisors. They are paid for their opinion. The interpretation of legislation, whether it be black or white, is a far cry from the skills required required to lead and manage teams of people.

Coaching is now a highly popular leadership methodology. In its most simple form coaching is self directed learning, It is a learning loop revolving around creating insight and taking action. But here is the rub – it is the coachee’s insights and actions that form the learning agenda. The challenge for many professionals in leading and managing people is to refain from advising or solving the coachee’s problems. It can take practice especially if there is ego involved.

The most popular modality of executive coaching is Coaching for Performance. Traditionally key performance indicators (KPI’s) revolve around objectives, targets or results. The notion of management by objectives is the cornerstone of commercial organisations worldwide. What happens if you don’t meet your targets? The old dictatorial school suggested you keep your head down and tail up and work harder or if that failed change strategies and then work harder.

All of this begs the question, what drives results? The Coaching for Performance framework shifts the focus from results to performance. It is performance that drives results. Do enough of the right things or the things rights and you will get results. Balanced Scorecard theorists, Kaplan and Norton write of lead and lag indicators. In a similar vain lead indicators can, and should, be used as predictive measures of future success. If these predictive measures indicate things are not on track then remedial action can be taken quickly. Time is money.

Traditional management reporting concentrates on lag indicators, eg sales, billable hours, customers, profit. By the time reports are produced the damage has often been done. Remedial action may lag by 30-60 days.

So, if we accept that performance drives results, it begs the next question – what drives performance? There are two things that drive performance – SKILLS and BEHAVIOUR. In a high performance culture employees will be measured on both. The specialist coach may assist with:

· Conducting training needs analysis. The basic rule of coaching is ‘work with what’s there’ so if you or your firm has already invested in 360 degree questionnaires, diagnostic surveys, psych profiles, performance reviews or any relevant skills based training program then engage your coach to ensure you obtain a return on your investment. The real value is in the implementation.

· Establishing a baseline. Skills are learned and can be easily assessed. The assessment should incorporate both comprehension and competency. Keep it as objective as possible. The baseline must be agreed between the two parties.

· Setting performance expectations. Seek a balance between stretching the individual to a personal best and a benchmark organisational/industry standard. A coaching program is far more effective than a classroom training program. The learning agenda can be customised and rapid rates of sustainable improvement achieved. The coach will challenge and stretch the client beyond levels they would achieve on their own.

· Facilitate ACTION and INSIGHT. The iterative process of DO-LEARN and LEARN-DO forms the nucleus of the learning loop. Adult learning theorists suggest that we learn best by doing. To fast track your personal and professional development your coach will engage you in role plays and have you reflect on what worked or didn’t work in your skills application from ‘live in the field’.

Coaching for Performance is both an art and a science. There is a lot more to it than your ability to learn a skill and practice it. The major impediment to your success is yourself. Best summed up by the phrase, “I have seen the enemy and it lays within.” Self defeating behaviour or self sabotage is the most common obstacle to personal success.

Behaviour is about choices. These choices can be made consciously or subconsciously. Some coaches are trained and skilled in behavioural coaching. It is the responsibility of the coach to know their own limitations and when they are out of their depth. Mild dysfunctional behaviours like procrastination may be dealt by bringing the choices to the cognative awareness of the coachee. In more severe cases like an addiction an alternate modality may be necessary.

Behaviours tend to run in patterns and the patterns often run subconsciously. So in behavioural coaching the first step may simply be to bring the pattern to the conscious level and attempt to interrupt the pattern cognatively. This can be a quick and effective means of resolving minor dysfunctional behaviour.

The field of neuro linguistic programming (NLP) is based on a study of behavioural patterns. The good news is that the behaviour that runs in patterns includes both the productive and unproductive behaviours. NLP is the science of unlocking the patterns of behaviour in successful people. So, the things that you did to get you where you are today can be repeated to help drive futher successes. It is not just about bad behaviours repeating, good behaviours repeat too!

Resolving conflict

One of the most challenging skills for managers and leaders is conflict resolution. Why? Because it incorporates both the logical and emotional hemespheres. Perhaps John Gray was right, men are from Mars and women are from Venus. The thing that is most confused with conflict resolution is whether the person is coming from a place of logic or emotion.

To determine whether a person is logical or emotional requires some deft footwork. It requires advanced listening skills. You are listening for the undercurrent of what is both being said and not said. Only 7% of what we communictate is verbal communication with the rest being tone of voice and body language. It is essential to hear and read these non verbal clues.

The biggest tip I can give you is if the person is acting emotionally or irrationally then you cannot solve the problem. Why? Because (a) it’s not yours to solve and (b) problems are the domain of rational thinking. Problems can only be solved when you are rational. The thing to do with emotions is to express them and empathise with them. Don’t try to solve them.

Aside from trying to solve emotional issues from a logical perspective (DON’T) the other trap is to suppress your emotions. It is absolutely essential that emotions have an outlet to be expressed appropriately and I stress appropriately. Running around the office abusing staff is not appropriate.

Resolving conflict is not for the feint hearted. You must be firm in drawing the line of acceptable conduct. It won’t do your cause any good if you don’t abide by your own code of conduct!

What I have highlighted here is the last resort. If you are confronting a performance issue then several rounds of constructuve feedback may have taken place beforehand. Please do consult your Human Capital specialists for guidance.

Giving Constructive Feedback

Ken Blanchard in “The One Minute Manager” once wrote “Catch people doing things right”. Staff need constructive feedback for the things they do right as much as the things that aren’t effective.

Constructive feedback is much more than simply a pat on the back and saying “Well done.” It is about setting the context for what you are about to say and identifiying a specific behavour or skill that you witnessed and the implication of that skill or behaviour.

Here is an example of how to practice the skill of Giving Constructive Feedback.

Coach: “Tony, I’d like to give some feedback on yesterday’s meeting so that we are both clear on your performance expectations. I noticed that you didn’t bring business cards, sales agreement or copies of the client’s file to the meeting and as a result the client has gone cold on the deal and I came away feeling like you weren’t prepared. What have to say?”

Tony: “Yeah, you’re right I left the file in the office and hadn’t looked at it since our last meeting. I wasn’t well prepared. I’m sorry about that.”
Coach: “What will you do to ensure you are adequately prepared for future meetings?”

Tony: “I’ll review my diary first thing in the mornings and leave the files I need for the day on my desk.”

Coach: “Ok, so let me recap. I invited you in today to give you feedback on yesterday’s meeting so that we’re clear about my expectations. I shared with you that I believed you weren’t prepared and as a result the client went gone cold on the deal. You agreed with my observation and committed to reviewing your diary and putting your files on your desk for the day. Is that correct?”

Tony: “Yes, that’s it.”

Coach: “Tony, I know what you are capable of when you put your mind to it. So do as you suggest and let’s sit down again a week from today and review your progress.”

Things for you to do

Are you interested in championing a high performance culture for you or your firm? Here are a few things for you to do.

1. Practice acknowledging your support staff (using constructive feedback) for demonstrating the kind of behaviour you expect from them, eg being proactive, working back late, going above and beyond the call of duty, covering staff absentees.

2. Benchmark your own performance. Choose a skill you would like to improve, eg time management, negotiation, report writing, stress management. Break it down into five (5) core elements. Rate yourself. Set a performance target and timeframe. Periodically sit and reflect on how well you are doing and what you learned. Commit to take action. Repeat.

3. Choose a self-defeating behaviour, eg procrastination, fear of failure, over controlling. Play the events out in your mind. What choices and trigger points did you make. What could you have done differently? What do you commit to do differently next time. Remember half the battle is to be consciosuly aware of your choices.

4. When you next have to deal with an emotional colleague or relationship partner refrain from problem solving. Stop and listen for the underlying emotion. Resist the temptation to say, “I understand.” You don’t understand emotions (that’s a logical process) you can only empathise with them. Ask “How does that feel?” and listen, listen and listen some more. Feel the difference.

Athletes have long embraced the notion of personal best. Results such as Olympic gold will only come to you if you commit to the learning loop of action and insight and striving to become more. Even the best athletes engage a coach, shouldn’t you?

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Servant Leadership

At its core, servant-leadership is a long-term, transformational approach to life and work--in essence, a way of being--that has the potential for creating positive change throughout our society.

The characteristics of the Servant-Leader are:

Listening.

Leaders have traditionally been valued for their communication and decision-making skills. While these are also important skills for the servant-leader, they need to be reinforced by a deep commitment to listening intently to others. The servant-leader seeks to identify the will of a group and helps clarify that will. He or she seeks to listen receptively to what is being said. Listening, coupled with regular periods of reflection, is essential to the growth of the servant-leader.

Empathy.

The servant-leader strives to understand and empathize with others. People need to be accepted and recognized for their special and unique spirits. One assumes the good intentions of coworkers and does not reject them as people, even if one finds it necessary to refuse to accept their behavior or performance.

Healing.

One of the great strengths of servant-leadership is the potential for healing one's self and others. Many people have broken spirits and have suffered from a variety of emotional hurts. Although this is part of being human, servant-leaders recognize that they also have an opportunity to "help make whole" those with whom they come in contact. In "The Servant as Leader" Greenleaf writes: "There is something subtle communicated to one who is being served and led if implicit in the compact between servant-leader and led is the understanding that the search for wholeness is something they share."

Awareness.

General awareness, and especially self-awareness, strengthens the servant-leader. Awareness also aids one in understanding issues involving ethics and values. It lends itself to being able to view most situations from a more integrated, holistic position. As Greenleaf observed: "Awareness is not a giver of solace--it is just the opposite. It is a disturber and an awakener. Able leaders are usually sharply awake and reasonably disturbed. They are not seekers after solace. They have their own inner serenity."

Persuasion.

Another characteristic of servant-leaders is a primary reliance on persuasion rather than positional authority in making decisions within an organization. The servant-leader seeks to convince others rather than coerce compliance. This particular element offers one of the clearest distinctions between the traditional authoritarian model and that of servant-leadership. The servant-leader is effective at building consensus within groups.

Conceptualization.

Servant-leaders seek to nurture their abilities to "dream great dreams." The ability to look at a problem (or an organization) from a conceptualizing perspective means that one must think beyond day-to-day realities. For many managers this is a characteristic that requires discipline and practice. Servant-leaders are called to seek a delicate balance between conceptual thinking and a day-to-day focused approach.

Foresight.

Foresight is a characteristic that enables the servant-leader to understand the lessons from the past, the realities of the present, and the likely consequence of a decision for the future. It is also deeply rooted within the intuitive mind. Foresight remains a largely unexplored area in leadership studies, but one most deserving of careful attention.

Stewardship.

Peter Block has defined stewardship as "holding something in trust for another." Robert Greenleaf 's view of all institutions was one in which CEOs, staffs, and trustees all played significant roles in holding their institutions in trust for the greater good of society. Servant-leadership, like stewardship, assumes first and foremost a commitment to serving the needs of others. It also emphasizes the use of openness and persuasion rather than control.

Commitment to the growth of people.

Servant-leaders believe that people have an intrinsic value beyond their tangible contributions as workers.As a result, the servant-leader is deeply committed to the growth of each and every individual within the institution. The servant-leader recognizes the tremendous responsibility to do everything possible to nurture the growth of employees.

Building community.

The servant-leader senses that much has been lost in recent human history as a result of the shift from local communities to large institutions as the primary shaper of human lives. This awareness causes the servant-leader to seek to identify some means for building community among those who work within a given institution. Servant-leadership suggests that true community can be created among those who work in businesses and other institutions. Greenleaf said: "All that is needed to rebuild community as a viable life form for large numbers of people is for enough servant-leaders to show the way, not by mass movements, but by each servant-leader demonstrating his own unlimited liability for a quite specific community-related group."

These ten characteristics of servant-leadership are by no means exhaustive, but they serve to communicate the power and promise that this concept offers to those who are open to its invitation and challenge.

Leader To Leader Institute by Larry Spears

How to Negotiate with Integrity

For some the worlds of negotiation and integrity may seem poles apart. How can you ensure you get what you want whilst retaining your integrity? Well, according to sales guru Jack Collis negotiators fall into one of three categories:

1. Soft negotiator – where the negotiator avoids conflict at all costs, seeks an amicable agreement, will often give away (rather than trade) concessions, take the path of least resistance and often end up feeling like they have been exploited.

2. Hard negotiator – believes that negotiation is a contest and test of wills. It is a battleground where only the tough will survive. This approach is based on being as competitive as possible and winning at all costs. Here there are no prizes for coming second.

3. Principled negotiator – will explore win/win outcomes, seek to understand the others perspective, preserve the customer relationship, separate the person from the problem and focus on interests not positions. They will be soft on the person and hard on the problem.

Collis suggests that there are five negotiation styles. They are:

1. Compete – a competitor seeks a win/lose outcome. I get what I want and you don’t. Simply put, my aim is to beat you. I don’t care what the fallout is as long as I get my objective.

2. Compromise – we reach a win/win outcome but it less than an optimal win/win outcome. We may both trade concessions.

3. Co-operate – we both achieve a win/win outcome. Ultimately a principled negotiator is seeking this outcome. It is the ideal for relationship selling where the preservation of the customer relationship is key.

4. Accommodate – this is a lose/win outcome where I give more than perhaps I should in order to get your business. I may resent having done so.

5. Avoid – lose/lose outcome where neither party is satisfied and the relationship will disintegrate very quickly. Either or both parties will withdraw from the relationship.

Before entering a negotiation choose your negotiating style. Different situations will call for different styles of negotiation so think through which may be appropriate for the circumstances.

Before the negotiation starts make sure you know what you want. If all goes well what outcome do you seek? And it is also important for you to identify your best alternative should your ideal not be possible. Determine your negotiation range.

Seller’s asking price 480,000
Buyer will not pay more than 460,000

Estimated worth 450,000

Seller will not accept less than 440,000
Buyer’s offer price 420,000

The real negotiation range, eg $440,000 to $460,000.

Here is how you can use principled negotiation whilst preserving your customer relationships, achieving a win/win outcome and maintaining your own integrity.

1. Separate people from the problem.
Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Take the time to listen to, and fully understand, their needs. And take the time to fully understand your own needs too. It really is your responsibility to openly communicate your needs to them. If your customer shares your desire to negotiate a win/win outcome then they will be receptive to your needs.

2. Be soft on the person and hard on the issue.

Take time to actively listen to them and empathise with their feelings. Seek to understand their problems and empathise with their feelings. Remember you cannot understand feelings, you can only empathise with them. This is the most common mistake that I come across in personal coaching. When someone says “I am angry”, don’t respond with “I understand” but rather explore what they feel and how they express it.

3. Listen is learning.

When you are listening you are learning. The objective of a good negotiator is to listen and lead your customer to speak. I order to reach a win/win you must share two-way communication. If this is not present, ask yourself what negotiation style the other party has adopted. If they are competing with you, question whether the relationship is one you want to persevere with.

4. Opinion and response.

Talk about yourself, the problem and how it impacts you rather than what they did. Rather than “You broke your word” say “I feel let down.” Your feelings are your feelings. They are not grounds for debate.

5. Trade concessions.

Never give concessions without receiving something in return. If you are willing to trade then say “I’ll extend your payment terms by 30 days, and in return, I want an exclusive supply agreement with your company for twelve months.”

6. Ask open questions.

You will be in a stronger negotiating position if you get them to open the negotiation. It gives you an opportunity to respond to their opening position. Ask, “What is it that you would like to achieve from this meeting?”

Negotiating is a skill, and like all skills, it can be learned. The opportunities for you to practice your negotiations skill are limitless. So, I encourage you read, learn and practice the skill of negotiation.

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Coaching the Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs are some of the most challenging yet rewarding clients a professional coach may attract. They possess unique traits and if understood and appreciated can make for the most rewarding coach/client relationship. Many coaches fail to appreciate the unique qualities of an entrepreneur and how to approach the client relationship.

What are the common traits of an entrepreneur?

The entrepreneur is a different animal to your average coaching client. They are futurists and have the capacity to see opportunities where others cannot. They are highly creative and are strategic thinkers. They operate best free of constraints. They are impulsive and risk takers. The opportunity will often outweigh the risk, their impetuousity and spontaneity often leaving a trail for others to clean up. They love to have multiple ideas or projects on the go. They thrive on starting things and can quickly become bored. They often work best alone. They move at a rapid pace. They may experience frustration if those around them cannot keep up.

What common mistakes do coaches make with entrepreneurs?

Don’t try to change them or slow them down

Successful coaches appreciate the entrepreneur for who they are and don’t try to change them. Let them run and get out of their way. Watch and learn. They move at such rapid pace they may omit to consider risks or challenges. Help them expand their thinking, use brainstorming techniques, run scenarios, add clarity and detail to the vision, identify blind spots.

Preserve balance and sustainability

In their haste the entrepreneur may neglect basic aspects of their lives, eg diet, exercise, relationships, birthdays. Watch out for sustained periods of neglect. They are optimists and masters of illusion. Look for hidden signs of stress. The entrepreneur has the capacity to make small things big things – both opportunities and problems. Call it gearing. A good coach will realise this and role-play whatever role is appropriate. This is an art.

Respect their creativity and risk threshold

Entrepreneurs have a high threshold for risk. Accept it and work with them. You may need to be the flexible one. His tolerance for risk, not yours, should determine the basis for strategies and objectives. Entrepreneurs love to brainstorm ideas. They also love to talk. So, let them. Coaching is about listening. Entrepreneurs want someone to listen and respond enthusiastically to their ideas. They seek positive reinforcement.

What advice would you give to consultants/advisors dealing with entrepreneurs?

Much of the above is also true for the professional advisor. There is one basic distinction. True coaches will not give advice. They will facilitate self-discovery through questioning techniques. Professional advisors such as accountants and lawyers are expected to give professional advice. They are subject matter experts and required to interprete the law and share their knowledge. Remember entrepreneurs are the decision makers so offer them your considered opinion and let them decide. Give them options.

Be proactive

Entrepreneurs move fast. They subject themselves to risks and make frequent decisions. They do not and cannot know everything. They place a premium value on astute professional advisors who can give them considered opinion proactively and foresee scenarios or risk exposure they cannot.

Be accessible and responsive

When entrepreneurs want an answer they want it now. They make rapid fire decisions and have short concentration spans. They don’t want to dwell on the detail. Big picture, clear guidance, fast turnaround.

Service focus

Tune into what your client wants. Take time to learn how they tick. Be flexible with your communication style to accommodate your client. They talk fast, you talk fast. They want succinct information, give it to them. They want options, run scenarios. They expect you to be there when they need you not return my call two days later.

Questions are the answers.

Learn how to listen. Learn how to ask powerful questions. The techniques of a skilled coach are just as relevant for an accountant or sales professional. Ask open questions, eg what, where, when, how. Practise questioning techniques such as probing, clarifying, paraphrasing, summarising.

Restate commitments

Once you have reached agreement with your client, repeat it back to them for clarity, “So, it is my understanding that you want me to submit your tax return by Monday, 31st July, is that correct?” or “My expectation is that you will sign and return the contract to me by Wednesday, is that reasonable?”

Real-time information

Nothing irritates an entrepreneur more than old information. Time is money. They want both lead indicators (prospects, conversion rates, average sales, purchase frequency) and lag indicators (customers, sales, profits) in their management reports. Sales pipelines are essential management information.

System and structure

The entrepreneur needs system and structure. They often aren’t the best person to deliver it. That’s why they hire a coach, personal assistant, consultant or accountant.

Coaching an entrepreneur is an exhilarating and rewarding experience. It can be a roller coaster ride and is never a dull moment. Supporting them in your role as a public practitioner can be just as rewarding. So, get yourself ready and hang on for the ride of your life.



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