Every business is constantly looking for competitive advantages and new ways to improve performance. While businesses have always sought outside help for various needs - outsourcing certain tasks to experts, bringing in consultants - one of the newer trends is for business leaders to call upon the help of life coaches to help achieve their business goals. Have you ever considered hiring a life coach for your business? Here are some of the reasons why hiring a life coach might be the right move to help take your career or your business to the next level of growth:

A life coach will help you achieve targeted, measurable results. Business leaders tend to be highly focused on results - they don't want to get into an open-ended commitment with no clear idea of where it's headed. A good life coach will work with you to set some specific targets and develop a formal coaching plan. For example, if you need help boosting your sales results, the life coach can help you set goals and milestones to evaluate your business's improvement along the way to success.

Your life coach is like a mentor to you - but with more structure. Mentoring is one of the most valuable experiences that many business leaders can have as they work to build their careers, hone their skills and learn about new aspects of business. Working with a life coach is similar to working with a trusted mentor, but with the added advantage of having a formal agreement in place and a specific structure built into the relationship to ensure that you reach the goals that you have in mind.

A life coach is like a consultant - but focused on building "soft skills." Every business leader is familiar with hiring consultants, whether for IT, strategy, marketing or any other niche area of business expertise. A life coach is similar to a consultant that you hire for help with your "soft skills" - relationship building, communication, cultural awareness and adaptability, emotional intelligence, personal resilience, and all the other subtle skills that business leaders need to navigate a complex and competitive world that you live in.

A life coach will help you get the "bigger picture." Business leaders are busy people, and sometimes it's hard to take a step back from their daily rush. A life coach can serve as a professional, objective, confidential sounding board to help you take a look at where your business is going, and where you are headed with your career and your overall life. Are you happy with the person you are in the process of becoming? What would you like to change about your life? How can you better align your business achievements with your overall plans and dreams for your life?

A life coach is like a "business therapist." Many people go to therapists and counselors to help overcome emotional issues and life challenges. A life coach serves this same purpose for you and your business by helping you overcome mental barriers, resolve tension and achieve clarity which will lead you to even greater successes.

Does this sound like the sort of help that your business could benefit from? If so, contact me (www.stevenhlyles.com/squeeze ) and we can talk about how a life coaching plan might be right for you.