When talking about entrepreneurs; what sort of people make the best entrepreneurs, suddenly the words of the late and great John Lennon come to mind. You may say that I am a dreamer/But I am not the only one. Entrepreneurs are, in short, dreamers. They are the sort of people who wake up from a deep R.E.M cycle with an idea and then spend the next hour or two scribbling on yellow notepad ways to expound upon that idea. They may even call their best friends, old college buddies, family members, and neighbors with, in sheer joy and excitement akin to a child anticipating the arrival of Christmas day. And they begin talking in high-pitched, hurried speech that is barely decipherable when discussing how this idea will “change the world." Entrepreneurs are business-minded individuals, who are dreamers. The perfect blend of right brain and left brain; entrepreneurs are the spawn of a delightful marriage of the logical and the idealistic.



While entrepreneurs understand that a good idea is akin to discovering gold in the water, the best of them recognize and understand that the key to transforming an idea into a successful reality rests upon the talents and skills of other people. They know how to “sell" an idea to others, thus inspiring them to jump on the band wagon, so to speak, and thereby develop a team of people who work towards a common goal.

Many Fortune 500 businesses will attest to this; that regardless of how clever the idea, or how well the business plan reads, the longevity of a business rests upon tapping into the power of people. “The impact of factor in the success of a company is in its people," says Jeff Sloan, the co-author of the best-selling book StartupNation: Open for Business. “It all starts with the entrepreneur and flows from there to everyone on your team […] No matter how great the idea is, if you have a mediocre team it will not succeed. Successful entrepreneurs all say the same thing— it is the quality of the people."

Alas, having a business degree does not necessarily qualify an individual to be an effective leader. Knowing the logistics of starting up and business, is only part of the equation. Additional ingredients include knowing how to motivate, empower, and lead people requires a slew of different skills and tools. Fortunately, there are training courses employers, as well as employees. Contrary to popular debate, good leadership skills can be developed, refined, and polished. This process is more commonly known as business management coaching, or executive coaching.

Executive coaching is a process that focuses on the people that comprise a business management team—employers and employees alike. The process entails a variety of tools to generate specific, identifiable, and measurable results. Typically such results are centered on internal company growth of both the people who comprise it as well as the people it serves. In sum, it is a proactive approach toward successful realization of goals and objectives, through identifying which course of action will not only be most effective, but mutually beneficial for all involved. Highly recommended by strategists and leaders alike, business management coaching and executive training workshops provides insight on how not only to take a company onward and upward, but, also provides hands-on, interactive, practical and applicable resources for improving the overall morale and productivity of the company through empowering and enabling people. This, in turn creates a strong, unified home front; a team that works interdependently, together. Unlike sports coaching, executive coaching offers constructive criticism from peers, professional mentoring and the formation of integrated and interdependent partnerships, personalized feedback through two-way communication and brainstorming, external support and reassurance through customized, internal training. And it offers such in a neutral environment. One may dub such coaching and training seminars by loosely comparing it to student government leadership retreat for executives. To an extent, this is true; however, instead of learning to trust your team-mates by falling backwards from a table and crossing your fingers, hoping they will catch you. Executive coaching facilitates practical, collaborative problem solving, self-management, communication skills, staff recruitment, leadership theory, as well as entrepreneurship.

The U.S. Small Business Administration lists among its Top 10 important steps to starting up a business, finding a mentor and finding great people. Expounding on the concept of leadership and team building is Stephen R. Covey, founder of Franklin and Covey and author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, who says “Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying out a process." He adds, “While management works in the system; leadership works on the system." Covey goes on to explain that leaders must know how to empower and motivate others in order for management to successfully carryout the mission and objectives of the company. Utilizing the tools and resources offered through executive coaching, leaders will learn to develop among their team, leaders who will thus carry the business on into the future. Keeping abreast of the latest literature on leadership development, management training, and corporate team building, is crucial. Yet, putting these concepts into practice provides, through coaching, for hands-on interaction which helps for improved communication, increased productivity and greater applicability, even customization and interpersonal relations, proves invaluable if not essential. Hence, an increasing number of top performing executives are turning to coaching to stay ahead of the curve.

Whereas, entrepreneurs are the inspiration, the vision and passion behind the business constantly fueling it with a slew of innovative, exciting, and revolutionary ideas, the heart of the business; the brains and manpower behind it all are the people who comprise the sum of its parts. Never underestimate what a group of dedicated, committed individuals can do. People are the heart and soul, the lifeblood that transform dreams into realities. There is power in numbers. The best businesses realize this, and constantly capitalize on it by utilizing and maximizing the infinite potential of people— their most precious asset; their key to success.