Being a Visionary Entrepreneur is one of the most difficult paths to take. Visionary entrepreneurs have the job of creating the idea, planning it out, implementing it, keeping it moving and then dealing with the success and failure of the project, not just for themselves, but everyone involved. Throughout all of this, the entrepreneur needs to also build a team of human resources that support the project and support themselves.
Executive Coaching is an extremely important resource in the Visionary Entrepreneurs journey. I am asked often at what point is an executive coach most useful. Here are my top five milestones during a visionary entrepreneur’s journey when an executive coach provides the most value:
Too Many Ideas, Time to Focus: Most visionaries begin with notebooks full of ideas. Or even worse, a head full of ideas that haven’t been articulated in any clear format. Usually within a very reasonably short amount of time a coach can work with them to turn all those ideas into an actionable plan.
Time to Start: Visionary leaders sometimes have trouble starting because the “thinking about it” stage is so compelling. However, there’s a certain point when there is no more thinking and planning to be done, it’s just ‘go time.’ Encouragement and guidance from a coach can help and hold you accountable to moving forward.
Big Win, What’s Next: Once the movement starts to begin, so do the wins. For many visionaries, wins can be a weird time because some have trouble celebrating, focusing and/or not starting another project with the momentum. A great time for a visionary to get coached is AFTER a big win! Coaches help fully celebrate the win and move forward. Plus, they assist in refocusing on the goal ahead, while taking into full consideration what worked and didn’t work so far. Additionally, a coach will help you create reinforced structures to continue doing what worked.
Big Loss, What’s Next: Just as with a big win, a big loss is another milestone in which coaching can be of value. Coaches can not only help you get over the loss, but to move pass the loss to ensure you aren’t carrying any baggage forward. A coach can move forward productively and quickly to consider what was learned and patterns to avoid.
Project is Complete, What’s Next, and Breaking the Cycle: A great time for a visionary to get coaching is when the project is complete! Most visionary entrepreneurs are good at what they do, so when the project is over the first thing they do is go straight back into the next entrepreneurial project. Not because that’s what they want, but because it’s the comfortable thing to do. An executive coach helps the visionary leader reset and prioritize next steps before the new project commences.
During many cycles of an entrepreneur’s career, a coach can help flesh out real wants and needs to bring a full, balanced life vision for everyone involved.
Jason Dukes is an Executive Life Coach to Visionary Leaders and helps them bring their visions to life through innovative and customized one-on-one programs.
