Chandler Associates

Coaching for business performance.

There is no doubt that the business world shuddered somewhat on 11th September last year, and it seems to have become the whipping-boy for many problems for which it isnít really responsible. The UK economy faltered but has picked itself up and carried on, however it has made many fragile businesses very shaky indeed. And what do all these unprecedented threats mean for your business?

No doubt that you will have to work harder and smarter just to stand still. But if you are anything like every other business I know, youíve been doing just that for quite some time, and you are apprehensive about the extra effort now needed. Where will you get that extra bit of 'oomph' to make a difference?

Development of any business or organisation is about a few fundamental issues: smartening up the operational base; firm financial control; marketing and selling the organisation and its products and services; effective use of networks. Personal issues also arise for individual managers in the essential need to achieve a balance between home and working life, between your own needs and those of your family.

The most successful people in any sphere are those who have a clear vision of where they are going, with solid goals in place to support that vision. It sounds simple; however most of us find that ìsimpleî approach difficult to undertake, or at least initiate, alone.

Let me tell you about one person who decided to use some external support through a challenging period of change and development: to preserve the essential confidentiality of the path he chose, Iíll call him Mark. Mark is Managing Director of a small group of family-owned (but not his family) businesses, including a manufacturing facility and a retail business. The structure and ownership was governed by a 25 year trust established under the will of the founder, and the 25 years was about to expire.

Mark's challenge when I met him was to take the organisation through the end of the life of the trust and into a new ownership regime, and in so doing, re-structure the businesses and their operations. Mark's background indicated that he was competent to achieve a new and thriving group of companies within the target space of a year. This was a task he relished, but he recognised that it would be a lonely experience. There were many people inside and out of the companies he could explore and discuss some of the issues with, but every individual from the Group Chairman to Finance Director, Solicitor to Bank Manager had their own perspectives and so could not be wholly independent or disengaged. Their expertise was invaluable but Mark felt that he needed an external, uninvolved sounding-board, so that he could test out his ideas and plans in complete confidence.

After an initial meeting we agreed to work together for a year's programme. His objective was to take the group through the ownership changes, re-structure and streamline the manufacturing and retail operations and create leaner and fitter companies. All this needed to be achieved whilst retaining for himself a happy balance between work and play.

He developed a series of 'smart' goals and an action plan to achieve them, and then worked to implement the actions. We reviewed progress regularly by appointment either in person or on the telephone, depending on his diary commitments. We were able to talk through any issues which had arisen since our previous meeting, and plan forward to the next. He was also free to call me at any time if he needed to talk through something which had arisen. At the conclusion of the programme, we met to assess the success of the work and to look at the next phase of business development alongside his own professional development.

At the end of the year's work, did Mark think it was worth the investment of time, commitment and money? 'The support given during the year has proved to be particularly valuable, for the opportunity it has provided to talk about developments in the moment as they unfoldedî he said. "The safe place to explore options for the business and for myself just did not exist outside of the confidential coaching relationship."

A similar approach to this can be taken for newly appointed managers and directors to be supported as they grow into their new role, for long-serving people going through a period of change or development of the business, or for those who feel the need to re-invigorate their approach or their professional and personal development. As the old Beatle song says "I get by with a little help from my friends". The Business Performance Coach is the independent friendly professional, whose detachment is invaluable in facilitating that essential step change needed if your business is to continue to thrive, in spite of outside forces which threaten to affect us all.