Nine times out of ten, I find issues that get in my clients’ ways that they just don’t see. It takes me – as a coach – to ask the right questions to really understand what the root cause of the problem is.   

Recently, I had a client that didn’t realize the root cause of his issue was a lack of building relationships with his team members.  He was all about work and getting tasks done.  He didn’t have a bond or level of trust with his team. They wouldn’t help him when he was in a pinch because they felt like they were just a tool for him to use.  This was a blind spot for him so we worked with him to understand the importance of building connections to others to be a truly effective leader.   

Another time I was working with a client that had the title of Business Development. However, when I spoke with her it was clear she didn’t enjoy reaching out to people that she didn’t know.  She avoided this area of her work and that made her not as effective in her role.    

With many people having too much work to handle it’s easy to procrastinate important, but not urgent work.  We help organizations run more effectively because we identify people’s areas of passion and align their roles with work that they will not avoid.  

As a coach it’s my responsibility to understand people and their passions and limitations so I can help them be as effective in their role as possible.  For example, if I work with a CEO to effectively manage email, and they still have too many emails, then that can be a symptom of another problem that they don’t see themselves.    

Maybe they have a high need for control and want to see all the correspondence that is happening with all of their teams. Or they think they are an effective delegator but when you look at their email you can see that they should delegate authority to their team members so every decision doesn’t need to be approved by them. My being able to interpret that data and draw accurate conclusions is critical to helping my clients make progress.  

My Psychology minor is my secret weapon when it comes to coaching clients.  If you think about this it makes sense. I don’t want to just give people productivity hacks; I want to give them steps and tactics that work for them so they will become lifelong habits. It’s important for me to really understand the person and what is realistic for them. For example, if someone is highly distractable, then I know for sure that turning off notifications is critical to keep them focused on their most important work. If someone can easily tune out the world, then turning off notifications may not be as critical for them.  

If you are having issues with your productivity or the workflow within your organization and you’ve looked at the systems around those problems, worked on improving those and still have poor outcomes, perhaps it’s time for some coaching. I offer a 100% guarantee that I will find the issues, determine solutions and help you see those root causes quickly.