Don’t Lose Career Direction – Get a Career Coach

Do you want a clarity and vision in your career? Do you have a life plan and a coach? Maybe it’s time to start looking for one.

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Without a clear vision and a plan to back it up, where are you going?

After coaching executives for the past 15 years, speaking nationally at conferences and authoring books, I have seen an incredible increase in employees hiring a life coach or strategist to enable them to become better versions of themselves both professionally and personally.

We are not taught at school vision creation, life and the wellness skills that are the foundation piece on which we can grow, evolve and flourish.

We tend to go into the work force, work hard for years and end up in places sometimes by chance. Or we follow a pathway and lose that connection to ourselves, and our why, and feel like we are on the treadmill of life.

Successful People

Successful athletes, business owners, CEOs, entrepreneurs all have a great team around them in order to shine. They invest in their skills, gain support from their coaches and generally want to be their best both on and off the field.

The United Kingdom Coaching Strategy describes the role of the sports coach as one that “enables the athlete to achieve levels of performance to a degree that may not have been possible if left to his/her own endeavours.”

Why Have a Coach?

When it comes time to build your personal brand, create a business plan, life strategy and gain clarity on what you really want to do moving forward a coach is a very powerful asset to have.  Just some of the benefits of working with are coach are:

• Increase self confidence
• Gain clarity on your direction and what is essential for you
• Understand you own set of values as a decision making tool
• Improve your time management
• Better work life balance
• Creation of boundaries
• Improve communication skills
• Have accountability to someone
• Declutter your life and get rid of the drainers you have
• Find the blind spots that may trip you up in the future
• Create a proper life plan to avoid making wrong decisions
• Find the shortcuts through using their expertise
• Gain more insight into yourself
• Work and conquer your limiting beliefs
• Did I say clarity clarity clarity!
• Simplify your thoughts and put into a plan of goals and actions for 1-5 years

Why I Personally Have a Coach

A coach should have a coach! It is a bit like being a personal trainer but not training yourself. I think it is essential that the coach be coached to stay sharp, up-skilled, and to really know and understand what it feels like to be coached.

Plus, we all need to grow, we all need to constantly learn and move with the times, so it is an investment for me that is critical for my own success.

I employ a coach for 6 months of the year, each and every year. It is a non negotiable for me as a business owner, wife and mother. The coach keeps me true to myself, never allowing me to lose the balance, give up what is important to me as I might get swept away in my career. They help with really identifying what is essential for my business to be a great success and really work for me.

I learn from my coach, my boundaries and comfort zones are explored and tested, and each year I want to grow both personally and professionally.

Without a coach, I know I would not be where I am today. And if I had tried to do it all on my own I wouldn’t have advanced so quickly. I am committed each day to growing and evolving and to being a better version of myself and the coach can assist with the tools, support and accountability that I need to be this person.

Also, it is incredible to have someone on my team that is 100 per cent behind me!

What’s Stopping You?

As we’ve seen during the Career Boot Camp, the value of coaching and mentoring in procurement is obvious. Our Career Coaches have talked about it, and our leading CPOs have highlighted the value in their 60 Second Interviews.

Just because you are progressing in your career, doesn’t mean you don’t need a coach or mentor. And it’s great to see that, in procurement, so many of our senior people have had great coaching and mentoring experience. And what’s more, they’re willing to be a mentor for someone else too.

As they say, the best in the world have a coach so why don’t you?  What is the cost of not having a coach come in and up-skill, support and open up your world?

Shannah Kennedy is a life coach and best-selling author, who has worked with a number of high profile global organisations. Find out more about Shannah’s work on her website, and check out her best-selling book, ‘The Life Plan’ here.

The Procurious Career Boot Camp will increase your stamina, get you in the best career shape of your life and help you stand out from the crowd.

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