Contractors vs. Full-Time: The Small Business Guide
03 Jun
Business Coach, Entrepreneurship, Grow Your Business, Grow Your Expertise

Contractors vs. Full-Time: The Small Business Guide

One of the most effective ways to scale your business is to grow your team. But that can be a difficult undertaking with several considerations before you even start taking applications or interviewing contractors. 

The Difference

A freelance contractor works for you independently and covers taxes on their own. An employee is an in-house team member that answers to you. You’re responsible for reporting their earnings to the IRS. 

You hire a contractor as a 1099 employee after the terms and scope of services provided are agreed upon, as well as the cost. In this role, you will not have control over their process, pricing, or working hours, unless these were stipulated in the agreement. 

This category would include:

  • – Freelancers
  • – Consultants
  • – Temp-to-hire
  • – Agencies

A W2 employee is usually a long-term arrangement where you provide consistent direction and supervision. You dictate their hours, their job expectations, and pay. For a W2 employee, you may also have to offer other benefits or insurance.

There is also no competition for their time. A contractor will have other clients and projects in the works that require their attention, whereas an employee is someone you don’t have to share. 

The Cost

Independent contractors typically get paid with a flat fee for any services rendered or deliverables provided. This is usually determined in contract negotiations prior to any work taking place. 

With a contractor, you’re paying for their talent and expertise. While you’re in control of your overall project, they will play a more collaborative role, like a consultant. As a business owner in their own right, consider them a partner in your business, not an underling.

For a W2 employee, you can pay an hourly wage or salary that fits within your budget. Talent that is interested in that pay scale will apply and may or may not negotiate pay. Keep in mind that when you hire a W2 employee, you will also have to cover any benefits, 401K, as well as cover tax payments.

Contractors will typically cost you more upfront with deposits and initial fees, whereas employees will require very little upfront but could cost you more over time. 

The Bottom Line

What do you want most out of this new team member? Do you want total control over their schedule? Are you looking for someone you can train up who will buy into your company culture and mission? 

Do you want exclusive access to their attention and talents? Are you hoping this person can wear multiple hats to take even more tasks off your plate? If you can afford all of the incidentals that come with an in-house employee, this may be the best path.

Or are you more interested in saving on hiring costs and benefits? Do you need more flexibility with short-term contracts? Is your need more immediate, and you don’t have time to train someone? 

If you’re not sure what you need or who to bring on, let’s chat! Helping entrepreneurs scale their businesses is my sweet spot! Book a consultation!

why brand guidelines are important
16 May
Business Coach, Digital Marketing

Why Your Brand Guidelines Matter

Brand guidelines or a brand book are a set of properties that explain how your brand operates, what it looks like, and who you are. It usually includes your mission, values, vision, tone, personality, and messaging. 

Built on your vision, personality, and mission are your brand assets, such as your color identity, logo, and visual styling. While it may seem superfluous, your goal is to attract a specific type of customer, and knowing what appeals to them is important. 

Here are my top reasons creating your brand guidelines is essential for your business. 

Brand Consistency

By creating a standard for how your brand appears, you will have a consistent identity in front of your audience. Changing graphics, colors, fonts, and associated with your brand makes you appear flighty and indecisive. 

Consistency in messaging and design shows you’re steadfast and reliable. It builds trust with your audience, who feels they know what to expect and are more comfortable working with you.

Brand Guidelines Encourage Relationships

It’s not just about colors and fonts. Comprehensive guidelines also advance your company’s values and mission. It’s an easy way to communicate what you stand for and how you intend to accomplish your goals. 

People connect with purposes, not brands. By showcasing a relatable, human element of your brand, you’re building authentic connections and relationships with your market.

Brand Recognition

We all know brands like Nike, Mcdonald’s, Ford. You only have to see their logo, and you instantly recognize who they are and what they offer. 

How? Because we’ve seen them over and over again, never changing, always consistent. 

While you’re probably not to mega-brand levels just yet, creating brand guidelines that your company lives and breathes by makes you instantly recognizable to your target audience. 

Brand Value Perception

Brand guidelines help you create a strong brand identity. When it’s designed to target your desired audience shows that you know your market. 

You understand their needs, desires, goals, and even a bit of their style. Together, this increases your value in their eyes, and they’re more open to paying what you’re worth. 

Brand Tone and Target Market 

Knowing your audience is key to developing a unique brand voice. If you’re a suit and tie brand, your tone and voice will trend more skilled and professional, and your brand visuals will be dark and sharp. 

If your market is families with small children, bright colors, bold fonts, and light, happy messaging is what connects with that aesthetic. 

If you go to market with any old logo you whipped up on Canva, and whatever font you happen to like, there is a strong likelihood that none of that will suit your brand. It doesn’t match who your customer is, and they may not trust your offer.

Your Brand Guidelines Matter Because Your Brand Is Selling Something

If you don’t have comprehensive brand guidelines keeping you on track, you may find your marketing is off, and you’re not reaching the right audience. I can help you develop robust and consistent brand guidelines that advance your messaging and your value. Book with me!

Break the Cycle of Toxic Productivity with Self-Love 
10 May
Business Coach, Confidence Culture, Grow Your Expertise, Productivity

Break the Cycle of Toxic Productivity with Self-Love 

With our always-on, always-available, fake-it-til-you-make-it hustle culture, there’s glory in being the workaholic, the go-getter, the workhorse.

We’ve normalized hustle culture, made it so that if you’re not always rushing, busy, and stressed, you’re not trying hard enough. Always go the extra mile.

Answer an email late in the evening? Sure! Put in extra hours on the weekend? No worries, you didn’t have plans anyway.

That’s not glory. That’s a fast-track to burnout and toxic productivity.

Being stressed and overworked is a toxic mindset skewed positive to keep you pushing harder and harder. But once you recognize it, you can prioritize self-love and break the toxic cycle.

What Is Toxic Productivity?

In recent years, our culture has been about the hustle and the grind. The “first-in, last-out” type is the one who gets the promotion.

The shift to hybrid and remote work only worsened this mindset. The boundaries between our work lives and our personal lives blurred more and more. Our phones and laptops are always on, we’re always available – and expected to be.

It’s difficult to turn the notifications off, especially with no physical separation between work and home. Our home office, couch, recliner, or even our beds may have become the new workspace, so of course we can’t just turn our work minds off.  

With no rest, no downtime, and no boundaries, we can’t enjoy our free time or focus on self-care and self-reflection. We may prioritize a project over date night, our child’s sports game or recital, or our own sleep.

Productivity is important, for sure, but it can be detrimental if it consumes our lives. If we think work is more important than anything else, to the point that we can’t relax and enjoy our families, hobbies, or time relaxing on our own, that’s when productivity builds to burnout.

Balance, rest, and self-love are vital to true productivity. If you’re running on fumes or struggling with concentration and focus, are you truly productive? Is the work you’re doing the best quality it can be?

Probably not. You can’t pour from an empty cup.

My Struggle with Toxic Productivity

“Love what you do, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

We’ve all heard some variation on this quote, implying that if you’re passionate about what you do, it’ll never feel like work. You can’t get overworked, stressed, or burned out doing what you love, right? Wrong!

I was nearly claimed by my own toxic productivity. I worked all the time. It was easier to be productive.

Then COVID-19 hit. The lockdowns, stillness, and the claustrophobia of the pandemic made me feel like I had to move faster, produce twice as much, and push toward my ultimate goal.

I was buried in toxic productivity without realizing it – only to be buried by the bad news avalanche.

It was time to reconnect and recharge, focus a little on me. Time for a reset.

How to Overcome Toxic Productivity

The most important tool for overcoming toxic productivity is knowing how to recognize it.

Are you always focused on work – always checking email, even during time with your family or friends?

Are you checking or answering communications during off-hours, such as nights and weekends?

Are you measuring your self-worth through your work? Is excelling at your job or career the most important thing to you?

Are you missing out on quality time with your family, friends, pets, or hobbies in order to work?

Are you using work as a way to escape difficult life situations, such as a significant death or conflict with your partner?

If you answered “yes” to any of these, you may be struggling with toxic productivity.

Fortunately, you can break the cycle of overworking.

Take an Extended Recess from Work Responsibilities

If you’ve been going and going, it’s time to take a break. Taking time away from work responsibilities to focus on fun and passions is important at any time, but it’s even more important after the tumult of the past two years.

We experienced a collective trauma together during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s time to take a moment to breathe, reflect, and shift the focus back to yourself for a bit.

Spend time recharging and reconnecting. Feed your soul, reflect, and reset. Rediscover a lost hobby, or take up a new one.

Go for a walk or a drive with no destination in mind. Lie in the grass and watch the clouds. Do the least productive things you can think of to give your mind and body a rest.

However you choose to spend your time, it’s important that it’s about what you want, not the professional you, but the personal you – the multifaceted you. Close your laptop, turn off your phone, and just enjoy.

Over time, you’ll get used to unplugging and enjoy some much-needed time for yourself.

Prioritize Work-Life Balance

Even if you work from home, you need clear boundaries between work time and private time. You can set a work schedule for yourself, much like office hours, or designate time slots when you can be productive that work around your family’s schedule.

Whichever you choose, it’s important to stick to your schedule. Adjust as needed but be disciplined in your work time and your personal time.

During your personal time, do the things you enjoy. Practice your hobby, spend time with family, cook yourself a meal, watch your favorite television show, meditate, or do whatever makes you happy. When you return to work, you’ll be refreshed and ready to go.

Create a Self-Love Box

We all need reminders to develop healthy habits, and the self-love box is just that. Having a self-love box on hand can reinforce the message and give you tools to prioritize you.

Drawing from my experience as a confidence and business coach, I put together a self-love box that has all the tools and resources you need to love you greater! I’m always telling clients to create flashcards for their niche, and now I’ve taken that idea 10 steps further to build the ultimate toolkit to end your toxic productivity.

End the Toxic Cycle with Self-Love

Toxic productivity can sneak up on you, but when you know what to look for, you can promote better work-life balance and unplug to unleash your true productivity.

Are you struggling with your career or business? Let’s chat! Schedule a discovery call with me!

how to automate your business
09 May
Digital Marketing, Grow Your Business, Grow Your Expertise, Productivity

3 Things to Automate in Your Business Right Now

Those menial, tedious tasks you hate doing every day? Automate. The technology to make your life so much easier is out there! You will boost your productivity and relieve yourself from the pressure of all the “to-dos” that you don’t really have to do. 

Let’s review my top 3 things you should automate in your business right now!

#1 Client Onboarding

Different from welcome emails, this is your internal process. It’s something you can create and set up once but use again and again. 

Using a productivity management system to send contracts, welcome packets, questionnaires, and client portal information automatically saves you time and puts the client at ease that you have it all together! It also ensures that everything is accomplished as quickly as possible, and nothing is ever missed. 

My Favorite Productivity Management Systems:

  • – Monday.com
  • – Airtable
  • – Asana
  • – Trello
  • – Zapier 

#2 Welcome Emails 

Did you know welcome emails usually have the highest open rates? These emails are your first access to direct contact with a potential client and are extremely valuable. Use them to engage with the lead and ask how they liked your resource. 

Using your CRM or email management system, set up welcome emails to fire off after a new contact is received and drip out over the following days and weeks. This keeps you at the top of their inbox while your name is fresh on their mind.

Leverage these notes to further establish who you are, what you do, and why they should care by providing practical, tangible value in their inbox. Slowly introduce other ways to connect with you and your higher-ticket offers. 

#3 Social Media Content

Automating content production can reduce the pressure on you or your team to be creative every day at the optimal posting time. While the content still has to be physically created or curated, there are tools and software platforms that help you automate the process. 

You can batch create your social media text and graphics using the free tool, Canva. If you run out of ideas, scroll through the feed of your ideal client or competitors and see what they’re engaged with. Use this to fuel your creation! 

Pre-made content calendars are also a dime a dozen, but apps like PostDeck also offer daily prompts and conversation starters to essentially generate content for you. 

When you’re ready to publish, upload your content to a platform like Sprout Social, Buffer, or Later. These services help you schedule content out for the week or even the month so you can “set it and forget it” and focus on engagement. 

Consider implementing Facebook’s “out of office” auto-responder for after-hours to connect with anyone who may reach out. Or, set up a chatbot to keep the conversation going and assist potential leads. 

Work Smarter, Not Harder!

Automation can be tech-heavy upfront, but the payoff is literally buying you more time! If you’re overwhelmed by manual processes and need support and encouragement to confidently make good business decisions, let’s talk! Book a consultation with me!

4 Ways Confidence Changes How You Do Business
25 Apr
Business Coach, Confidence Culture, Grow Your Business

4 Ways Confidence Changes How You Do Business

I truly believe that confidence is the key to every other puzzle in life. 

When you’re confident in your business, you’re not afraid to make bold moves and take on a new challenge. You’re not fearful of what others may think and reduce your dreams or abilities to fit someone else’s mold. 

Here are my top four ways that business confidence changes how you do business. 

#1. Confidence Improves Communication Skills

Confidence helps you speak with clarity and with precision. You’re able to impart exactly what you want more efficiently and with conviction. 

Because you’re confident in your intent or purpose, you are more relaxed and in control of your speech and how you communicate emotions. 

Business confidence helps you clearly define what you bring to the table, why you’re worth what you charge, and why your clients and industry partners should care. It’s the ultimate business boost!

#2. You’ll Get More Enjoyment Out of Your Work

The more business confidence you have in yourself, and the more you own your worth, the less likely you are to seek external validation. You stop running your business to please other people or meet their expectations. 

You start doing what you love for YOU! You are empowered to think for yourself and act on your desires and ambitions. This is what keeps you showing up every day, happy to do the work. 

This kind of confident operation overflows into your client and partner relationships. It will ooze into your marketing and messaging. It will be obvious to them that you love what you do, and that’s infectious! 

#3. Your Conflict Resolution Will Be More Successful

Like it or not, conflicts and disagreements will occur in business just as they do in life. When you lack confidence in a conflict, you start to doubt your own abilities and second-guess every decision. 

You start to lose trust in your own judgment and are hesitant to take on a confrontation in order to reach a resolution. When you have confidence in yourself and your capabilities, you believe what you say with conviction, and others will believe it, too. 

#4. Business Confidence Makes You A Better Leader

As a leader, the level of self-confidence you have can be directly associated with the level of trust your team has in you. The more confident you are in yourself, your abilities, your ideas, and what you bring to the table, the easier it is for those under you to trust what you say and do.

Business confidence helps you set ambitious goals and inspires your team to meet them. It helps you hold those you lead accountable for their actions or performance. When you’re more confident yourself, you see and recognize success and progress in others. 

Never underestimate the power of confidence in your life or in your business. If you need that ultimate business boost, or you crave to live a more confident life, I’ve got you! Inspiring and cultivating confidence in others is what I do! Reach out to me here, and let’s chat about how you can live more confidently.

SAHM And Business Owner? Yes, You Can Do Both
18 Apr
Business Coach, Entrepreneurship, Grow Your Business, Grow Your Expertise

SAHM And Business Owner? Yes, You Can Do Both

It can be overwhelming for anyone to start and grow a business, let alone someone who is already managing a household. You’re in charge of housekeeping, child-rearing, meal planning and preparation, running errands, constant chauffeur duties, and a kiss for any boo-boos. 

But in the midst of all that chaos, are YOU getting lost? Do you crave something that is all yours, with your stamp on it? Something to eventually make your life easier?

Friends, you can do both. And I’m going to show you how!

Be Flexible

Your LIFE is your priority, not your job or your business. If you are inflexible with your schedule or roles, you could end up making unnecessary sacrifices that will cost more in time, energy, and money. 

I know the “mom guilt” comes on strong, and it’s easy to feel trapped between two worlds. Stay the course! When things crop up, and they will, that threaten to disrupt your progress, stay flexible and open. 

Remember your priority. As a business owner, you are in charge of your schedule. You CAN make choices that suit your lifestyle. 

Designate a Business Zone

Hotels have them, and so should your home! Whether it’s a tucked-away corner where you can still hear the children or a sound-proofed office with a do-not-disturb sign, your space should be treated like your working sanctuary. 

When you sit in your sanctuary, focus on what you must do, decide what else you can do, and put off whatever is left. A separate space for only work-related tasks keeps you from being unnecessarily distracted. 

Draft a Clear, Ambitious Plan That’s Still Achievable

If anyone can do it, a mom can! But if you don’t have a map, how do you know where you’re going? Of if you’ll get there? 

Map out your big goals for the year.  Where do you want your business to be one year from now?

Great! Now you know where you’re going, let’s create the route to get there. Break down your yearly goals into smaller steps that you can realistically achieve each month. When you reach the beginning of a new month, map out an overview of each week. 

Intentionally schedule times when you can work uninterrupted but remember to stay flexible. Do not squeeze every spare moment of your day, or the slightest inconvenience will set you back. 

Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

Yes, you can do both, but you also don’t have to. It’s also okay to admit that you can’t, or don’t want to, do it ALL. Something can give, I promise. 

Your kids can hang out with a sitter or grandma on occasion. You can hire a freelance assistant or specialist to help you execute tasks in your business. You can work with a consultant that will help you make intentional decisions and stay on target. 

Friends, whether you’ve launched your business or aren’t sure where to start, you can reach your goals faster with the compassionate support of someone like me: a confidence and clarity coach for business owners. Let’s chat!

Mitigating the Impact of Inflation on Fundraising
15 Apr
Business Coach, Confidence Culture, Entrepreneurship, Grow Your Business, Grow Your Expertise, Productivity

Mitigating the Impact of Inflation on Fundraising

Everyone is seeing the impact of inflation, from a trip to the grocery store to monthly utility bills. In the past year, inflation amounted to 7.9% — the fastest pace since 1982 – according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  

Inflation isn’t likely to resolve anytime soon, especially with the increasing energy costs due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

This is especially troubling for nonprofits. Many charitable organizations receive a significant amount of funding at the fiscal year’s end – June 30 – and the budget implications are only just now obvious.

Nonprofit leaders need to navigate uncertainty and position the valuable work as critical, regardless of what economic indicators show.

What Is Inflation?

The simple definition of inflation is that it’s a sustained upward movement in the price of goods and services in an economy. If all else stays constant, this reflects a loss of purchasing power for a currency. It takes more currency units to buy the same goods and services.

Simply put, your money doesn’t go as far. You can’t buy as many groceries or essentials for the same amount as you did previously.

Many consumers associate inflation with the rise of a few key goods or services, such as oil or the real estate industry. but inflation is only present when the overall price of goods and services is increasing across the board.

When inflation increases faster than wages, it leads to a decrease in purchasing power that causes people to put up more money to buy necessities, but getting less for it. For the average consumer, this can create financial strain and reduced discretionary spending.

The problem here is that many people don’t understand what inflation really is. They believe the prices are increasing, when that’s not what’s happening. The value of each dollar is declining.

Why the distinction? If people believe that it’s prices, not dollars, donors may unknowingly reduce the value of their donations because they don’t regard inflation as the reduced value of money.

They’re not deliberately giving less – they’re accidentally giving less because they’re failing to recognize the diminished purchasing power of their donations.

Even if inflation were to return to its previous levels, it would take time before we see the effects of that. With the end of the year approaching quickly, fundraisers need to take a proactive approach to combat the effects.

Plan Ahead in Thinking, Giving, and Strategy

Donors want to make a difference – that’s why they donate. They’re not trying to decrease their gift, but they just don’t appreciate that it doesn’t have the same purchasing power.

We can’t expect them to know this on their own, however. They can be politely reminded that inflation affects nonprofits, too, and the cost of staffing, supplies, services, and more. It also impacts the lives nonprofits serve – if it’s this difficult for the people who can pay, imagine what it does for those who can’t?

Bottom line – we need more money to make the same impact. We need to ensure donors understand the need for the work and how the dynamics of the world impact it. Donors want to hear stories about those served by their donations, and how, so highlight some of your top stories.

If possible, show metrics of how donations allow impact. Whether the nonprofit is focused on food security, education, literacy, clean water, or support for families, showing the metrics ensures that donors know the impact of their investment – and why it matters if money doesn’t go as far.

How Can We Help?

External pressures like inflation can be a big catalyst for creativity and collaboration. How can we, as community leaders, partners, and corporations, plan ahead and be proactive in our efforts?

The simple solution is to increase the gift to account for inflation and ensure that nonprofits have equivalent purchasing power. But writing a check isn’t the only thing we can do.

Inflation not only decreases what can be done with the donations, but increases the costs for the nonprofits. Volunteering helps nonprofits do more with less, reducing the burden and ensuring that help goes where it’s needed.

Finally, there’s advocacy. You can spread the word about the efforts of nonprofits and encourage others to get involved. Whether they offer monetary gifts, volunteer their time, or spread the word themselves, it all makes a difference. 

Let’s Talk About It!

I’ve had wonderful conversations with innovative leaders ready to grow their community and “put their back in it.” I’d love to talk to other leaders and business owners who feel the same. Schedule a 15-Minute Discovery with me and let’s get started!

6 Ways to Feel Confident When You Don’t Think You Have It in You
11 Apr
Confidence Culture, Grow Your Expertise, Inspiration

6 Ways to Feel Confident When You Don’t Think You Have It in You

Confidence is just something you have or don’t have, right?

Wrong! Confidence isn’t something you’re just born with. It’s a skill that is developed with time and intentional practice.

If you don’t feel confident, don’t worry – you can learn to become more confident and influence people in business and in life.

1. Practice Self-Love

If you want to be confident, you need to love yourself first. When you love yourself and all that you are – flaws and everything – you’ll have confidence no matter what comes along.

Before you can master the art of confidence, you must master self-love, self-respect, and self-awareness. Be proud of your values and your strengths, and commit to working on your weaknesses. You can acknowledge your flaws and still appreciate what makes you, you.

2. Conquer Your Self-Limiting Beliefs

People without confidence are prone to unconsciously adopting limiting beliefs about their capabilities or what they deserve. Then, as they self-sabotage, they reinforce the beliefs that were there all along.

Overcoming these self-limiting beliefs is a major step toward true confidence. Consider the thoughts and beliefs that diminish your confidence, such as self-doubt, anxiety, and insecurity. Replace them with empowering beliefs – you CAN do it and you DO deserve it.

3. Align Confidence with Your Goals

Why does becoming more confident matter to you? Are you a leader in your workplace and you need to project confidence to run your team? Do you present at conferences and need confidence to conquer your fears?

Knowing the purpose behind seeking confidence is the first step to realizing your goals and taking concrete steps to achieve them. Once you know the purpose of building confidence, it’s about training your brain to be more confident and secure.

4. Change Your Body Language

Confident people exude confidence before you ever speak to them – it’s all in the body language. They make eye contact, stand up straight, and shake hands firmly.

Fortunately, this is one you can “fake until you make it.” Lack of confidence takes a toll on your body language. Stand up straight, take purposeful strides, focus on eye contact, and make your presence known. You’ll naturally feel more confident, which can change your mindset.

5. Shift Your Perspective

If you’re feeling down or discouraged, a shift in your mindset can do wonders. Change your perspective on failure or loss. Remember, every misstep is creating a foundation for learning and future successes.

See failures as opportunities, rather than challenges. Focus on the positives of the situation – what did you learn? How can you grow? Success isn’t as sweet without failure.

6. Use Goal Visualization

Positive visualization can help you build confidence and create an environment of positivity. When you visualize something positive over and over, you start to believe it’s true. When the success finally arrives, such as getting that raise or promotion, you mentally pat yourself on the back.

Confidence Building with Allison Todd

Confident people aren’t born – they’re made. If you want to build your confidence and put your best self forward, coach Allison Todd can help. Her business coaching programs teach you how to have decisive confidence and make better and more strategic decisions within your business. Contact Allison Todd to learn more about coaching services!

What is Team Coaching?
26 Mar
Business Coach, Confidence Culture, Productivity

What Is Team Coaching?

When it comes to coaching in the professional world, many people talk about the benefits and importance of executive coaching and 1:1 sessions. 

However, one form of coaching is often overlooked despite its touted benefits: team coaching. Similar to executive coaching, this form of coaching helps individuals hone their skills and prepare for their careers. It’s simply done in a team setting. 

Team coaching will typically involve one coach working with a group of managers or leaders from the same organization, usually one that has a team-oriented workplace. These sessions are focused on results, and that’s exactly what participants who work with Alison Todd walk away with. 

Helping Teams Reach Goals

Team coaching will have a heavy focus on helping the group reach certain goals. To do this, a coach like Allison will encourage engagement and sharing among the team so they can come together around their common purpose and vision. Each person in the team will have a chance to define and have their role in the team recognized, so each person’s responsibilities and expectations for future work are clearly understood. 

Before the team leaves the session, the following objectives should be accomplished: 

  • – A clear understanding of the team’s performance and development. 
  • – Strategies should be found through collaboration. 
  • – Boundaries should be defined and relationship issues addressed. 
  • – An understanding that results won’t be immediate but a commitment to progress. 

What to Look for in a Team Coach

If you’re considering enlisting the help of a team coach for your organization, Allison Todd and her team would be thrilled to put their expertise at work for you. If you’re not in their area and want someone local, you’ll want to find someone that properly navigates the intricacies of dealing with multiple personalities and working styles. Team coaching is unique in this aspect in comparison to executive or confidence coaching. 

To be effective, a team coach should exhibit the following traits:

  • – Holistic Focus: The ability to focus on the team as a whole. The coach has to be able to help the individuals gain insight and change behaviors that may not be helping the team unit. Giving individual feedback is typically a component of team coaching, however, it should be related to the team’s goals, not an individual’s. 

  • – Flexible Mindset: The ability to operate with ambiguity. Team coaching won’t always lead to a concrete answer or the strategy that the coach expected. Since this form of coaching involves multiple personalities, the coach has to be flexible in the way that the session develops and the direction it goes. 

  • – Ability to Set Boundaries: The coach has to be able to help the team members manage and set healthy boundaries. When dealing with the many relationships that make up a team, a team coach should be adept at understanding and identifying the need for boundaries. 

  • – Vision for the Future: One major difference with team coaching is that the results are rarely immediate or concrete. The goal should be commitment and dedication to the goal with the understanding that it’ll take time to achieve. 

Team Coaching and Your Organization

Team Coaching is a unique experience that’s guaranteed to produce results and strengthen relationships — if led by a skilled team coach. Coach Allison Todd and her team have helped countless professionals work through a myriad of issues as a unit and are excited to add more organizations in the future. 

If you’re considering signing up for a team coaching session, be sure to check the credentials and past results of your coach. As always, our team is ready and able to help you with all of your coaching needs. 

Executive Coaching
08 Feb
Business Coach, Digital Marketing

What Is Executive Coaching? 

What is meant by “executive coaching?” What’s the difference between executive coaching and coaching? And, most importantly, is executive coaching worth it? 

The coaching industry is booming. It seems there is a coach for everything, from business coaches to feline-behavior coaches. But what exactly is executive coaching? What does it do? And is it worth your money, and more importantly, your time? This article will lay everything on the line, breaking down any myths about the role of an executive coach and how it can help you. 

What Is Meant by “Coaching?” 

Firstly, let’s consider the term “coaching.” The word “coaching” means supporting, teaching, and mentoring a person to unlock their potential and help achieve their goals. We associate the term “coaching” with sports, and if we were to take this at surface value, a sports coach does well in representing the umbrella role of a coach. 

Consider a basketball coach, for instance. A basketball coach’s responsibility is to direct, instruct, and improve a basketball team’s overall strategy and performance. 

When we remove the ‘basketball’ element, we’re left with something similar: instructing, directing, and improving the overall strategy and performance. Whether this tackles a business angle (a business coach), a nutrition angle (a nutrition coach), our relationships (a relationship coach), the fundamentals remain consistent. 

What Is Meant by “Executive Coaching?” 

Now that we understand the broad term “coaching,” we can move onto the more specific branch of “executive coaching.”

The term “executive coaching” is a 1:1 coaching session between a coach and senior leaders. It’s related to corporate coaching (otherwise known as career coaching). Leaders use an executive coach to both support and challenge their performance, striving for nothing short of excellence. 

Executive coaching was initially known as performance coaching and was created to fast-track career-driven professionals to the top of their game. 

What Does an Executive Coach Do? 

If you’re considering hiring an executive coach, you may find yourself searching for “what should I expect from an executive coach?” To manage (and exceed) your expectations, here are the fundamentals every executive coach should offer you:

  • – Provide a sounding board padded with support and confidentiality 
  • – Ask questions that stretch and challenge your current approach 
  • – Help you achieve clarity 
  • – Hand you helpful resources that can aid in meeting your goals
  • – Lend their own personal opinion and advice, should you ask for it. 
  • – Conduct behavioral assessments and analyze the results for areas of strength and weakness. 
  • – Set, track, and reassess growth and development goals.

Who Can an Executive Coach Help? 

Often, executive coaches help leaders and senior leadership teams. There’s no written rule that executive coaches can’t coach any employee that shows excellent promise and capability of growth. In fact, it’s becoming more common for employers to invest money into their capable employees through an executive coach, even before they reach leadership level. 

What Are the Benefits of Executive Coaching? 

The benefits of executive coaching are extensive and can maximize an employee’s potential if you find the right executive coach. This is advantageous not only to the employee, but the whole business will also benefit from this. So, with that in mind, let’s look at the real benefits of executive coaching.

Executive Coaching Benefit 1: Higher Motivation Levels 

Human beings are motivated when they see their success. It’s something every single one of us has in common. While there are people who crumble under pressure when they can see that an approach isn’t working, others may thrive. This differentiation between types of employees can cause issues for the company. Instead, ensuring an executive coach produces success in certain areas will guarantee higher motivation levels. 

Executive Coaching Benefit 2: Better Leadership Strategies 

Executive coaches often coach members of a Senior Leadership Team. With anyone higher up in a business, leadership is a fundamental skill that needs to be constantly improved. It may come naturally to some, but others find leadership challenging. 

Hiring an executive coach will allow you to explore different leadership styles and tactics, help you spot your leadership weaknesses, and, ultimately, improve. 

Executive Coaching Benefit 3: Increase Your Self-Awareness 

Self-awareness is key to any form of progression. Whether that’s for your own personal fitness, subject knowledge, or attitude at work. Being self-aware allows you to identify areas of weakness and strength. Often, we aren’t as self-aware as we could be, as we’re so busy juggling the many tasks assigned to us. However, having an executive coach helps you see yourself clearly, allowing you to improve specific areas and strategies. 

Executive Coaching Benefit 4: Teaches You Higher Levels of Empathy 

We could all learn to show more empathy in the workplace. So often, we don’t consider what someone has been through when they make a mistake. Leadership teams, in particular, are known for being cold with little empathy. But the world is changing, and an empathetic approach is ranking higher and higher on employees’ “must-have” list when looking to build their career. 

If you can show empathy, you’ll find that your team wants to reward this understanding with hard work. Plus, it shows your humane side, rather than simply being a leadership team member. 

Executive Coaching Benefit 5: Strategy and Data Analysis 

The point of a coach is to help you improve. In terms of an executive coach, it tends to revolve around bettering your performance at work. This involves evaluating the strategies you’re currently implementing by monitoring the data, analyzing it, and piecing together a narrative. An executive coach can help show you different sides of the story, allowing you to strategize with all of the information to make a well-rounded decision. 

Is an Executive Coach Worth It? 

The question we’ve all been waiting for: is an executive coach worth your money and time? 

The short answer? Yes. 

The long answer? Hiring an excellent executive coach can transform your working life. It can better your leadership skills, improve your ability to empathize, support you and aid in meeting your working goals, and genuinely take you from “good” to “great.”

To do so, you must have a solid executive coach who has proven results. But, as always, you get what you pay for. So, it’s fundamental to do your research first. 

You also need to be open to change. There’s little point in hiring an executive coach if you don’t honestly want to improve. You must be open-minded and ready to see yourself the way your team does. If none of these are applicable, you may not be prepared for executive coaching. 

But, if they do apply, you’ll absolutely benefit from an executive coach. 

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