3 Skills You Need to Be a Leader in Your Coaching Biz (even though it feels scary!) | By Ruby McGuire

There are many skills you need to be a good leader. Being a leader of anything can feel exciting and scary all at once, and being a leader in your business, well that's a whole new level of scary!

Here are my top 3 to help you step up and lead more in your coaching business:

1) Relationship Building

To be a really good leader you need to be able to build good relationships – with your clients, collaboration partners, your team, your colleagues. Personally I think relationship building is totally under-rated. There's nothing better than connecting with people, and building great relationships – it's a fabulous way to grow your coaching business.

How to build this skill:

• Update your to-do list - put relationship building at the top!
• Invite people to connect with you - forget selling, step up, be brave.
• Spend a big part of your day developing relationships with people - help others, value their work, their ways of thinking. Be a connector and connect people with others!
• Be curious - put your coaching curiosity to good use and have deeper conversations!
• Be social - if you're connected with people on Facebook/LinkedIn etc., talk to them! Don't just click 'connect'; turn the connection into a powerful conversation, you never know where it will lead.

2) Become a Good Decision-Maker

There are 3 different levels of decision making in business: Strategic, Tactical and Operational.

• Strategic - the Where - Long-term vision
• Tactical - the What - Make the 'Where' happen
• Operational - the How - Daily routine things

STRATEGIC: Leaders have big visions. Where do you want your business to be long term? Leaders have figured out the strategies and have unfaltering focus on achieving those visions.

TACTICAL: The tactical stage is the 'what' - what needs to be done? This feeds into the strategic plan. The problem is that as small business owners it's easy to spend all of your time in the nitty gritty, rather than thinking bigger picture.

OPERATIONAL: This is the "business as usual" everyday, regular stuff you need to do to make your business run. You're probably either run ragged trying to fix your Mailchimp newsletter while juggling clients, or you're spending too many hours trying to work out what to put on your website and then writing a million and one posts for social media.

While some/all of these things are important to your business, you need to take a step back and work out whether they actually meet the bigger picture and whether you need to be the one doing them.

How to build this skill:

• Schedule in some strategic planning time - take yourself away somewhere for the day. Take a complete step back from your business.
• Get really clear on your overall goals for your business - turn them into a tactical plan that tells you what you need to be doing now to move you towards your strategic plan.
• Make the tough decisions - Good leaders also make difficult decisions, whether it's dropping a service that just doesn't work, or not signing up a client that isn't a good fit for you.
• Flex your decision making muscle often - one way to practice quick decision making is to practice with your lunch or cup of coffee while you're out and about! Will it be a flat white, chocolate mocha or a cappuccino with cinnamon sprinkles? The more quick decisions you make, the easier you'll find it in business too.
• Work out what support you need operationally - don't get stuck in the 'I can't afford to get help' trap - for one piece of work outsourced you could earn 10x that amount by focusing your time on signing up a new client. Keep perspective.

3) Lead by Example: Walk Your Talk

There's no point telling your clients to practice self-care when you're always burning the candle at both ends, or helping them to get fit when you're the one being a couch potato.

How to build this skill:

• Do a business/life assessment using the cringe factor test  - you know the one, when you mention something to a client and then feel uncomfortable because you know you need to take your own advice and set some goals yourself.
• Be professional and consistent - show up when you say you're going to.
• Follow-up - with each and every person you've committed to.
• Be authentic - are you really showing up 100% as you, or are you trying to people please?

Wrap-up

So there you have it, 3 skills to develop - and grow your coaching business:

1. Build great relationships - make this your number 1 goal. It's a game-changer!
2. Be a good decision maker - use my example above as a good excuse to treat yourself to a coffee and test out your new skill!
3. Lead by example - become the person that inspires others to be the best they can be!

Let me know in the comments below which coffee you choose 😉

If you liked this article from Ruby on leading in your own business, you may also like:

• The Secret To Focus | by Ruby McGuire
• 7 Ways You can Help Leaders Enhance Their Confidence | By Delaney Tosh
• 10 Thought Provoking Questions to Grow Your Leadership in Life & Work! | by Fran Fisher, MCC

Contributing Author:

Ruby McGuire is a Business & Mindset Queen, certified by the IAPC&M. She's an expert Coach, Mentor, Trainer, Speaker, and Author. Her passion lies in empowering clients to lead their businesses like royalty. Through her guidance, they develop leadership skills, cultivate a success mindset, and attract dreamie clients. Ruby's on a mission to simplify life, opting out of social media marketing for her coaching and mentoring business to enjoy Scotland's beauty. Visit her pretty online home, Rock Your Fabulous Biz, for insights like her Mini Guide to Marketing Without Social Media.

Ruby's also a Certified Zentangle Teacher, so you'll often find her 'tangling'. Explore her artistic side on Ruby 2 Shoes Design, where she showcases her crafts and offers Zentangle®️ workshops. She also runs ZenFlow Workshops Beginner Zentangle®️ Workshops for Corporations & Charities. When not immersed in work, Ruby indulges in books, card-making, and quality time with her family, including her beloved dog and chickens, all accompanied by a delicious Whittard Vanilla cappuccino!

Learn more about Ruby & see all their articles here >>