The greatest secret to maximize my productivity? Could it be a new app? An upgraded phone or new tablet? Maybe the latest CRM or social media strategy?

Or could it be a new time/project/life management system?

It’s none of these —- or perhaps all of these. It depends on if you seek to maximize your productivity all by yourself or if you seek insights from a professional advisor.  Just listen to what the wisest man who ever lived (Solomon) said:

“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors they succeed.” Proverbs 15:22

“Make plans by seeking advice; if you wage war, obtain guidance.” Proverbs 20:18

Not for you? Let me take you inside a real coaching session where I walked a leader through the five critical things every great advisor/business coach should do… then you can decide for yourself if it is worth it.

Here are the five critical things every great advisor/business coach should do.

1. Listen carefully and ask lots of questions. The primary role of any professional advisor is to listen deeply to help uncover the real problem(s).  Knowing this leader’s company well, I only had to ask a couple of questions to gauge his sincerity in fixing the core issues, and we were off and running!
2. Bring new knowledge and wisdom when appropriate.  After sharing with me his wholehearted desire to reenergize and refocus his team, we immediately jumped into brainstorming next step ideas. As I walked him through a strategic thinking process (focusing on first things first) and after he took 3-4 pages of notes, he knew he had a great framework to begin his company’s revitalization.
3. Encourage you to believe in yourself & exhort you to reach new heights.  I then directed him to think about aggressive but reachable goals for his firm. In doing so, this veteran executive quickly realized what sales goals he could reach (through strategic alliances) and what his sales team could reach (though internal growth).
4. Help maximize your strengths and make your weaknesses irrelevant. Although he wanted to cast most of the blame on himself for his firms lack of focus and results, I reminded him of his incredible strengths (visioning, engaging, strategic alliances) and how his gifts naturally fit into the new overall plan. This reenergized him and helped him quickly determine what he needed to do.
5. Hold you accountable for the action plans you develop. Before we left, I asked one more question: “What’s your next step?” My client said, “Man, I’m glad you asked that question,” then we decided what next steps made the most sense.

See how these steps can work, even in one session? And we did this over a long lunch! Just like my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro —- it just works!

(BTW – as I dropped him off at his office, he was the most energized and focused he’d been in months!)