I’ve been a commercial photographer for over 20 years and  I learned at the outset of my career that two heads are better than one. As a photographer I was thrown into many situations where I had to be creative and try and capture what the client wanted while dealing with lighting, locations and models and everything else that goes into making a great image.  I had to be concerned with so many aspects of the job that it was easy to focus on one part at the expense of others.

I found two people indispensable to me to create quality work. One was the art director or creative director that came on the shoot. At times I would get myopic or be focused on one aspect of the image and the art director would be able to see the forest through the trees and help me stay on track. The second were my assistants. A good assistant is worth their weight in gold because they aren’t as attached to the outcome of the job and they can see things I might be overlooking.

That’s the way a coach can help you. They’ve got a different view point and can help you see things that you might be missing.

Fifteen years ago I started a group consisting of self-employed business owners interested in improving their businesses. As the group evolved we realized that most of our business problems were related to personal difficulties. One business owner hated marketing because of his fear of looking bad or being indecisive about presenting the right material.  Another one struggled with depression and having hope that he could change his life and business. As we grew and supported each other we all made progress and were able to create some significant changes in our ourselves and in our businesses. Most of the work was done by creating and accepting challenges to growth and then being held accountable by the group for progress.