It sounds counter-intuitive, but a business owner can feel very lonely.

That’s because he or she doesn’t feel like they can really open up and be vulnerable about their business decisions. For their employees, they’re supposed to have all the answers. To their peers, they feel like they have to “play the game” and speak about nothing but success and amazing performance.

And for their spouse, they don’t want to worry them that business issues might disrupt their family life.

As a consequence, I’ve worked with many of these people as a business coach. I’ve found that this works because:

  • It’s totally confidential
  • I listen and act as a sounding board
  • I don’t laugh at their decisions or beat them up about mistakes
  • I support

I don’t know how to run their business better than my clients do. That would be mentoring. It’s great for limited domains, but coaching is broader than that.

There’s nothing magical about business coaching; the key is listening, supporting, and being human. But that’s something that we all need, even me.