If you are good enough – you are old enough!
Business coaching was once perceived as a luxury reserved for the high echelons of blue chip companies and corporations. Thankfully, that’s no longer the case.
The landscape of British business is changing rapidly with the growth of entrepreneurs and small business achieving success. Many attribute their good fortune to working with business coaches to expand their commercial skills and personal development. Between 2015 – 2016 new business start-ups rose 14.5%, totalling 414,000. On the flip side, the number of business going under also increased from 10.5% to 11.6%. As businesses owners feel the pressure to stay in the game, business coaching is no longer a luxury, but as an essential tool for any business looking to grow.
Luke Kay is the Managing Director of ActionCOACH Liverpool operating in Merseyside, Cheshire and Lancashire, and at 29 years old is leading the way of millennial business coaches.
- How did you get into business coaching?
I was working at (the now infamous building company) Carillion – and wasn’t happy. I was an employee wanting to be an employer and run my own business. I have always enjoyed the journey of working with people and growing opportunities from a young age. I remember watching the film ‘Pretty Woman’ and was fascinated how Richard Gere’s character would buy, analyse and split businesses or keep companies together and grow them. It is about having the power of knowledge and skill sets to make such significant changes to a business, and ultimately a person’s life. It is about becoming good at something, and the science behind how our minds work in order for us to achieve what we want to.
2. Describe your coaching approach
Straight talking, no nonsense and tell it as it is. My work is result driven and result orientated. There are three aspects to my coaching approach.
- First – Transformation:
The journey the client goes through to be the person they need to be to thrive, both personally and in business. It is about challenging mind-set and enhancing self-belief.
- Second: Transactional:
Guiding people about through their business with a fresh vision. For example, how to improve profit and cash, how to develop processes and structures around creating leverage, recruitment process etc.
- Third: Structure:
My approach and that of ActionCOACH is very structured. We break everything down into smaller, more manageable tasks. So, from a 5 year plan, what are the outcomes for this 12 months, the tasks for the next 90 days, this month, this week and then today.
3. What type of feedback do you get from clients from your approach?
It’s always very positive, with comments such as “I wish I had started coaching earlier” and “If I had met you 20 years ago I would be a billionaire by now!”. When I first started business coaching I would take clients on to fix a particular problem. Now it is all about the journey and making an impact on the business. Good business coaching isn’t about putting plasters on cracks to fix things, I am in for the long haul and it isn’t always about quick fixes but we do always get results fast to support the long term future.
I look at a company from an objective perspective and talk to clients openly and frankly about their business. I show them where and how the business can grow, and it helps that I am not a colleague, family member or employee.
At the end of the day, businesses who work with me all get results and that’s what counts – they all make more profit and create more work life balance with their family, health and happiness.
4. What is the most rewarding thing about being a business coach?
It has to be seeing clients succeed and the acknowledgment I have played a part. It isn’t just about making companies more profitable, it’s about changing lives. The impact a client creates by implementing my recommendations is just amazing and quite humbling. It is also great fun and I absolutely love what I do.
5. Is there anything you don’t like about being a business coach?
There have been times when I meet with a prospective client, and they don’t believe or understand how their profits will increase by using the systems and tools I use. They resign themselves that it can’t be done. I find myself asking what is the worst that can happen? What you are doing now isn’t working and if you don’t try, you won’t know. Sometimes business owners can be so closed off and opposed to change. It all comes down to how they feel and believing in themselves.
6. Is there one particular success story of a business you have helped that you are proud particularly.
I am proud of all my clients and the business owners. They all they have their own intense business challenges from staff, tax issues, cash flow to not making profit. Every achievement and win I have made with my clients are all as important as each other.
7. The subject of mindset is always a hot topic and something we are always told that we need to improve if we want results. What does mindset mean in coaching?
It is all about having a mindset to win. You will find that most coaches have coaches of their own. One of my coaches is an Olympic level high performance sports coach and he coaches me to have a winning mindset in all that I do – whether it be speaking at an event, marketing, business planning or in my health and fitness. I instil that ethos with my clients, so when we are faced with challenges we face them head on together. Attitude is everything.
8. What is your definition of success?
Success is in the eyes of beholder, so for me, there isn’t an unequivocal definition of success. The closest would probably be about balance in your life and contentment you have achieved all that you set out to do.
Some people want power, some just want more money, but to be able to achieve success, you have to know what it is you are aiming for. The next question to ask is your goal for success a business or personal goal – maybe it’s both.
It is about knowing what balance you want in life and working to achieve it without detriment. There are far too many people running themselves into the ground, working all hours every day to achieve an elusive ‘something’. What needs to be the focus is a balance between work, family, social time, health and fitness.
It is about doing lots of small things right every day. Get these right and it will improve your mindset.
9. What is your definition of failure?
It would be continually doing lots of small things wrong, just bad habits which lead to you burning out. We all have the opportunity and power within ourselves to achieve our own levels of success – we just need a helping hand sometimes.
10. What is business coaching anyway? Is it you just telling someone what to do?
There are various levels of coaching.
Directive is telling a business owner what needs to change and being accountable to do it.
Pure Coaching where you coach the business owners to come up with the solution with no input from yourself from a tactical point of view, just challenging their choice of language or mindset towards something.
Mentoring and Guiding is about guiding a client to come up with the solution
Advising is a journey that we go on together. Often clients go through a coaching journey, which includes an element from each of the above.
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