Distraction-Proof® Advisor Ideas

AdvisorBlast – Quick Tips to Accelerate Your Practice
In this issue: Use a coach to make sure your blind spots don’t drag you down.

What’s going on in your blind spots? Usually we don’t know, because by their very nature, we can’t see what’s really happening there. What you can’t see is likely costing you in your business. At the very least it’s slowing you down! A coach is an invaluable resource to help you know what’s going on in your blind spots so you can do something about it.

When I was swimming, I was excited the first time I was videoed: I’d never actually seen my own stroke and wanted to know what it looked like. My coach videoed our entire team for a few minutes, then individually zoomed in on each of us. I was confident that I could easily spot myself in the pool because I knew exactly how I felt in the water.

I was wrong! Not only could I not see myself, but I began thinking he shot the group video while I was somewhere else. When he pointed me out as I began swimming toward the camera, I told him he had the wrong person and that must have been one of my team mates; there was simply no way I looked like that.

Not that the technique we were watching was too bad; it just looked completely different than I felt. I assumed how I felt would translate into a vision I could easily recognize. Once I watched myself for a little while, I finally realized why my coach had told me to correct my left hand entry, why I needed to move my head fractionally up and back, and how my left knee really did actually break the surface of the water and create undesirable drag when I was rolling to my side. Each of those little things that might not have seemed to matter too much on their own was collectively significantly slowing me down. I was so surprised I hadn’t sensed them before.

In the same way I couldn’t objectively see my swimming stroke, we can’t see much of what we do in building our businesses without prejudice. It is easy to focus on day-to-day activities but not see how activities fall short of objectives or don’t actually produce the results we’re expecting. Just because there is activity doesn’t mean it’s effective, useful, or productive; it may, in fact, be creating drag that invisibly slows us down and takes us off course.

• Do you have someone to talk with about your objectives, goals and desires?
• Do you have someone who understands your business and whom you respect to discuss ideas, concepts and plans with?
• How are you ensuring that you’re doing the vital activities that need to be done right now?
• What honest feedback are you receiving from people with whom you’re being most transparent?
• How much do they care? Do they listen effectively? Do they give you useful and well-considered feedback? Do you follow it?

There is no way I would have achieved an Olympic medal without a great coach, yet often I hear about advisors shooting for the stars without an objective partner to confide in, provide objective perspective and truly constructive criticism.

If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, you probably need a coach – not someone who is trying to sell you a program, but someone who really gets your business objectives, understands where you want to go and has the business experience and perspective to help you get there.

To your success,
Paul

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