Why you DON'T need a Business Strategist
When I first started my business, I called myself a Business Strategist.
However, I learned quickly that strategic advice is not enough to effect real change.
I decided that I don’t want to be the consultant that gives my clients a one-hundred-point plan which leaves them even more overwhelmed than before. I want to stay a while and see actual results.
And that’s when I unceremoniously changed the title on my business card from Business Strategist to Business Coach.
Hey, don’t get me wrong. I still love strategy! I have to constantly check in with myself and my clients to make sure that we are not getting lost too deeply in strategy land.
So what does business coaching look like? How does it differ from business strategy? Read on for a great real-life example:
NAOMI'S STORY: STRATEGY VS. REALITY
Recently, I was working with a most amazing client of mine. Let’s call her Naomi.
Naomi has the capacity to hold a big vision and we have fun bouncing ideas off each other.
At one point during our session Naomi shared with me a kernel of an idea that was sprouting in her mind. Hearing it, my strategy brain lit up and all of a sudden, I had a whole plan on how she can take full advantage of this project.
But after a few minutes, I paused the conversation and said to her the following:
“I’m going to take a step back here and say, I love strategy and I know that you love strategy, too. It’s a lot of fun to talk strategy. But, I’m not just a strategist.
As your coach, I have to be realistic. How much bandwidth do you have right now?
I see many steps involved with this project. If this is your priority right now, amazing! But if it’s not, and not going to be for the next few months... I don’t know if this is the approach we should be taking...”
I showed Naomi how we can categorize all the great ideas circling in her brain into 3 categories:
There are the immediate projects that will keep her business going in the next 3 months.
There are the plans she is working on to make sure her business is sustainable in 6 months from now.
And then there is her bigger 1-year business vision.
We then came to the conclusion that while this new strategy would be perfect for her business in one year from now, implementing it now would actually be distracting her from her current priorities.
Believe it or not, Naomi was relieved to hear it. She knew deep down that there were other things that she needed to focus on first.
What happened in the end?
Naomi is proud to report that she did meet and even exceed her own expectations for the project that was her immediate 3-month priority! She is also confidently moving forward with her 6-month plan, one step at a time.
In the world of business, less is indeed more!
Friend, can you relate to Naomi?
Do you sometimes get confused between STRATEGY vs. REALITY?
Next time you’re feeling overwhelmed with strategy, ask yourself the same question I asked Naomi -