30-YEAR-OLD OFFERS TO TAKE ME TO THE NEXT LEVEL!
A 30-something mortgage broker reached out to me last week and offered to “take my business to the next level” with his coaching.
Always curious, I asked him what “the next level was” and he said he could “double my business in three months with his well-tested strategies.”
I told him that I was worried about getting to “the next level” b/c I have met so many people trying to get to “the next level” that I am pretty sure “the next level” will collapse under its own weight when we all get there.
I haven’t heard back from him.
More interestingly, I googled him and he has a beautiful website but his “team” consists entirely of himself.
So, I thought “hmmm… business is either slow or too tough – so now he wants to coach…”
And that inspired this blog!
NOTHING AGAINST COACHING!
I have nothing against business coaching and actually highly recommend it for accountability, perspective, new ideas and strategies – as I have seen amazing results over the years.
What scares me though are all the coaches who probably should not be coaching. 😊
COACHING TYPES
Here are some of the coaching “types” that have always impressed me:
- “Practices What She Preaches” Coach. These are the most credible coaches, as they follow their own prescriptions with enormous success – while coaching on the side. When coaches are out of the business, I always wonder why, if their program works so well, they don’t just do everything they suggest themselves and make way more than they do coaching?
- “Loves What She’s Doing” Coach. These coaches are also very credible b/c they seem to love running successful businesses and then coach on the side – simply b/c they are so passionate about their businesses.
- “Recipe, Discipline, Accountability” Coach. These coaches are great for newer entrants in an industry who just need a recipe to follow (until they find their niche) along with someone to hold them accountable.
- “Made It Big/Giving Back” Coach. I worked with a coach for years who was so successful that he needed no money from coaching, and coached largely to just “give back.” His approach was very holistic and his constant reminder was that there is more to life than a seven-figure income. These coaches also have tremendous credibility b/c they obviously do not need the money, and they also tend to focus on happiness as much as business success – having learned firsthand that money does not buy happiness.
- “Loves to Help People” Coach. My friend (and “evil competitor”) Hunter, about whom I have blogged (10 Hunter Tips), falls in this category along with most of the others above. These coaches are simply fun to work with b/c they clearly just enjoy helping.
- “Willing to Dig Into Your Business” Coach. This is our current coach at JVM, and we are appreciating him more and more. Not only does he have tremendous management experience but, most importantly, he was willing to really dig into our business to fully understand ALL of its complexities. Years ago, we had an extremely rigid “recipe” coach whose prescriptions did not fit our business model at all and the coach refused to understand our model. While his coaching works wonders for many, it literally held us back so much that we only took off after we parted ways.
- The “Professional” Coach. These are the people who are passionate about coaching as a career and who have devoted so much time and energy to it that their experience and knowledge makes them effective in any industry – even if they have no experience within it. I personally have enjoyed working with numerous pros who fit this description.
The above “types” obviously overlap with many coaches, and if I was going to hire a new coach for myself or anyone on our team, I would make sure most of the above types above applied to that coach. A lot of business owners I know cover many of the types too, and that is what makes them such successful leaders.
COACHES THAT SCARE ME
Here are several types of coaches that scare me.
- “Show Off” Coach. These are the coaches who just seem to enjoy bragging about their numbers, lifestyle, discipline, habits, exploits – or whatever. They never seem very attentive and seem to get burned out quickly if they actually have to dig in and “coach.”
- “One Good Year” Coach. These are the coaches who had one good year when business conditions were unusually good, and now want to tell everyone how to do it – even though their advice will not work in current conditions. We are seeing this a lot in the mortgage industry now from young guys who had a great 2020 b/c conditions were nearly perfect – with plummeting rates and extraordinary demand.
- “Burned Out/Need More Income” Coach. These are the coaches who are “over” originating loans or selling real estate and just looking for another way to generate income. With business slowing, they seem to be coming out of the woodwork now.
And that is why I say “The Coaches Are Coming! Beware!”
Jay Voorhees
Founder/Broker | JVM Lending
(855) 855-4491 | DRE# 1197176, NMLS# 310167
