The Mindset of the Smart Life Coach
You probably want a profitable life coaching business. Seems kind of obvious, but there are some who can afford to do it as a volunteer. Making a full time living as a coach, however, means approaching it as a business.
Running a successful business requires the 3 mindsets of an entrepreneur.
You may not see yourself as an entrepreneur, in fact the whole idea might make you squirm. A few coaching schools actively discourage a business focus as inappropriately selfish and greedy for heart-centered professionals.
Meanwhile, they are running a life coaching school as a business so they can make money!
A surprising look at a true entrepreneur
You’ve probably heard of Brene Brown. She is a highly successful entrepreneur. What is she known for? If you’ve heard of her, you very likely had a word pop into your mind. Something like vulnerability, right?
We don’t usually think of “soft” words like vulnerable alongside entrepreneur but Brene makes a pretty decent living coaching people around concepts like courage, grace, bravery and compassion. Sounds fairly heart-centered doesn’t it?
Mindset 1 – Vision
Brene has a core characteristic of every successful entrepreneur: vision. She didn’t get where she was by accident. Brene has a vision for making a better world, one vulnerable courageous person at a time. There’s a lot of money coming in as a result, but her motivation has never been about greed, or about stepping over others to get to the top.
Entrepreneurial mindset starts with vision – a vision for the way your business is meant to make a difference in the world
Mindset 2 – Personal Growth
The second mindset of a successful entrepreneur is commitment to personal growth. Today one of the terms we use is emotional intelligence or EQ.
EQ is the humility to say “I’m not perfect, I can do better by learning to understand my self, my emotions and the needs of those around me”
Thankfully the stereotypical hard nosed, arrogant, aggressive professional is less and less common because our culture is changing. Developing soft skills like emotional intelligence is one of the most important skills for leaders.
Emotional intelligence usually comes naturally to people who are attracted to the life coaching profession. We are in the perfect position to help other leaders develop it.
Mindset 3 – Customers Come First
The third and final of our entrepreneurial mindsets is the ability to put the needs of the customer above the desires of the Technician.
In part one I talked about Michael Gerber’s book, the EMyth Revisited. There he defines the Technician as someone who loves to do a specific job role and wants a business which is the ideal job for them, rather than building a business which meets the needs of the market. It reminds me of an empty storefront in a town near me.
For almost 20 years now I’ve watched as one hopeful, aspiring business owner after another has started a new venture in that building, hoping to earn a living doing what they love. Jewelry store, wedding planner, clothing boutique, a restaurant and more have taken their turn investing their time, money and dreams into that building.
Each one has failed in large part because the town is one of the poorest in the entire state. It’s a place people pass through on their way someplace else. It’s not a destination. The residents don’t hire fancy wedding planners or buy upscale clothing and jewelry.
Each potential business owner was trying to create a job, doing what they loved, completely heedless of the needs of the local market.
The entrepreneur sees a need and fills it.
Life coaching is the consummate entrepreneurial pursuit because our entire focus is on helping others get what they want. Finding a very specific niche within the life coaching field is vital. Figure out who you can serve well and build a business focused on meeting their needs. Here are some ideas for the different types of life coaches.
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