Are you frustrated by inefficient leadership at your company? Do you worry that your company or department’s growth is being hindered by ineffective management skills? Becoming a skillful corporate executive is an ongoing process that is developed through the regular cultivation of leadership traits, and one key trait of good managers is efficiency. Being an efficient manager is a crucial part of being a successful leader.
Sozo Firm offers efficiency coaching that is tailored specifically to the needs of executive management as well as the rest of your company’s leadership team. Whether you’re looking for monthly sessions of in-person executive efficiency coaching or you’d prefer weekly virtual coaching, we can help transform you into a leader who effects positive change in those around them through both corporate and personal efficiency.
To get a better idea of our core principles, here are some notes from a recent interview conducted by a leading international media company with our CEO and lead consultant, Andrew Jensen:
What is the role of an efficiency coach?
A business efficiency coach identifies problematic areas in the workplace and implements solutions with a goal of increasing productivity, profitability, and value. An efficiency coach not only educates the people he is coaching but also strives to change their behavior, since education without change is useless. An efficiency coach may assist virtually (by phone, email, online chat) or in person, whether at scheduled appointments or as a retained on-site consultant. An efficiency coach may focus solely on advising corporate management, or he may also assist in helping employees make productivity improvements.
What are the advantages derived by a company that hires an efficiency coach?
An efficiency coach helps plug a company’s fiscal leaks as areas of wasted resources and poor productivity are identified. As a result, companies may see significant cost savings, which typically can easily cover the cost of hiring an efficiency coach. An efficiency coach may utilize existing resources and develop methods to generate additional productivity without increasing costs or decreasing quality. The end result is increased profits. When focusing solely on corporate management, an efficiency coach will help refine the executives into an effective leadership team which learns to strategically utilize resources, including time and personnel, for generating increasing value.
Why is an efficiency coach imperative to an organization?
Efficiency is about regular improvement, not perfection. Perfection within a company can neither be attained nor sustained. Regular improvement, however, is attainable. Regardless of whether a company hires an efficiency coach or not, companies desiring to succeed in today’s unpredictable economy should be striving for constant improvement. Realistically, however, due to the ongoing stress of running a company, most corporate executives are not able to dedicate the necessary time toward careful evaluation of business processes for the purpose of making changes for improvement. By hiring an efficiency coach, a company brings on a dedicated, professional problem finder who develops solutions to problems he uncovers and then helps apply those solutions properly to ensure each problem is fixed. In today’s overly competitive marketplace, companies must pursue business optimization procedures to achieve continued growth and success.
What are the qualifications required to become an efficiency coach?
A broad background, both in academics as well as in experience, is crucial. An effective business efficiency coach will have had management experience in a variety of organizations as well as training in psychology, communication, and business. An efficiency coach must have strong interpersonal skills, be a persistent motivator yet an empathetic teacher, and have the ability to explain complex things in simple terms. Finally, an efficiency coach must be meticulously observant, with a healthy obsession for unearthing problems and developing effective solutions. While some of these skills can be learned in an academic setting, much of the knowledge necessary to be a successful efficiency coach will come directly from a person’s individual career journey with its mountains and valleys.
What are some things you have learned as an efficiency coach?
Most companies have serious efficiency problems. Frequently, management is fully aware that a department is running significantly sub par; however, office politics, along with weak managers who are afraid to confront problems head on, keep a company locked into a circle of inefficiency, while bleeding precious resources.
Some business owners rush out and implement cost cutting procedures when income declines, but they do so at the expense of cutting employee morale, customer care, and product quality. While costs may have been cut, and profits may have temporarily increased, value inevitably declines.
Business executives often are so familiar with the processes at their company that they can be blind to some of the most glaring resource leaks.
What are the reasons for the growing popularity of this trend?
Because efficiency coaching works! Corporate executives embrace time management practices because their stress levels decline while their personal productivity increases and precious time is freed up to invest into family. Business owners love efficiency coaching because it enhances the value of their business while raising profitability. Employees welcome efficiency coaching because a streamlined, organized workplace contributes to higher morale, and the increased productivity is usually accompanied by financial bonuses.
Becoming efficient is all about taking small progressive steps, one at a time. All too often, executives focus on the huge gap between the present condition and the end results, and they give up prematurely. An effective business efficiency coach helps motivate and guide the executive step by step along the journey of steady improvement.
Note: Due to our current project load, we are presently being very selective with taking on additional projects. If you are interested in retaining Sozo Firm for future consulting services and are willing to be added to a wait list, please submit the online contact form.