“It’s possible to view everything you do to produce a result in life, from brushing your teeth to whatever it is that makes your business sing, as a system” (John Barron).

In this episode, John Barron stops by the Perfect RIA studio and demystifies what some may see as an unnecessary or extravagant service: business coaching. But he does so by leaving pretension, platitudes, and campy business gimmicks at the doorstep. Instead, John offers up intriguing reasons why one should consider the service. During the interview, he answers questions like why pay someone money to give you advice and tips on how to run the enterprise you have so dearly worked towards bolstering? What kind of advice would one expect? Does someone have to be a “big shot” business mogul to first consider hiring outside help? All of these questions and then some are answered in interesting, often entertaining ways.

Early in the interview, John states that there are many reasons to seek consultation from an expert if you are an entrepreneur. Even if your business has grown exponentially in the past fiscal year, and your horizons have never looked brighter, it can never hurt to invest in yourself by also investing in someone who has the expertise to safeguard your business venture. John also lays out the benefits of hiring a professional to plan and strategize the implementation of your business: a coach will “take you to the next level of success,” as well as help you consider “new ways of thinking and new ways of operating.”  These facets are extremely important because coaching can provide a spark for those who are interested in stepping up their businesses and can also offer important perspectives to those who have been “down in the weeds” for a long time. And without a doubt, what Barron has to say about perspectives, along with his ideas on systems, are the highlights of the whole episode.

Barron stresses the prevalent need of someone come along and see the forest for the trees, while a stressed and overwhelmed entrepreneur might be suffering from tunnel vision—those like John Barron, offer up their experiences and expertise, as well as their vision to those in need. In addition, according to him, a coach should understand that many business owners hit plateaus in their professional lives—it is an inevitability for all walks of life. But just because an entrepreneur hits a plateau, it does not mean that they are at fault. Instead, a big reason for these plateaus has to do with a breakdown of systems. So, the plateaus (or the temporary setbacks) are very rarely the result of owners making bad decisions or of negligence, but instead are a result of the wrong system being used for an endpoint; this is echoed by Barron’s statement, “from the systems perspective, it’s never operator error, which tends to be a real breath of fresh air for most folks… It’s literally the system that they’re using is always gonna produce the result it’s gonna produce.”  It is akin (as Barron puts it) to the expectation that a giraffe will come from a Toyota assembly line. And as the interview progresses, John will continue to expand upon this concept of clashing systems and inconsistent outputs. In brief, it is John’s job to go in and ameliorate any disconnect between systems.

But he also states, closer towards the end of the episode, that there should be harmony and balance from entrepreneur to business plan to the implementation of that plan; and professionals like Barron are important for opening the eyes of clients. But not all systems are for everyone. Sometimes it is in the variability of methodologies that John harnesses. He both advocates a business coach for ramping up efficiency and productivity in your venture, but he also knows that some people operate better under pressure after they have procrastinated, putting off work until the last minute and rushing through deadlines in a chaotic work-binge reminiscent of Silicon Valley startups. Whatever the mode of work, or motivation for your business, John stresses the notion that a coach is more than just a methodical checklist to follow for success; instead, it can become a very personal and uplifting experience where lessons are imparted and very valuable friendships are made.

Without going any deeper into the contents of this episode, listen for yourself, laugh, and learn with those at the Perfect RIA podcast.