What makes me tick as a business mentor and coach? It is the new challenge that each client throws at you, helping them to move on and seeing their organisation succeed.

The issues vary; sales, finance, human resources, etc. However, be the customer large and established or barely past concept stage, certain subjects are common to all. Interestingly, although much of my work is concentrated in the Jerusalem region, I am aware that these same themes are discussed by colleagues around the globe.

1) Leadership

The internet is deluded with blogs on what makes a good leader. All CEOS strive to be and have often convinced themselves that they are excellent motivators. Unfortunately, most of them confuse leadership with management. Despite an obvious overlap, it is essential to understand how the two skill sets are not the same.

Gary Hamel delivered a refreshing guide last week in the Harvard Business Review to what makes a strong leader. Using Pope Francis as his model, Hamel latched on to the Pope’s desire for internal reform. “Leaders are susceptible to an array of debilitating maladies, including arrogance, intolerance, myopia, and pettiness. When those diseases go untreated, the organization itself is enfeebled. To have a healthy church, we need healthy leaders.”

Of the 15 points mentioned, I felt three are worthy of emphasis, if only because I see how often they hinder their work of my clientele. Too many leaders: –

• feel that they are indispensable
• try to prove their worth by being extra involved
• suffer from ‘Alzheimer’s’ They have stopped learning, even forgetting established key techniques.

2) Creating new sales

I have previously written about Jonathan Gabay’s entertaining approach to the ‘hierarchy of needs’. He cleverly explains how to win over that elusive extra sale.

So many people just rush around, blurting out any old catch phrase that vaguely hope will trap the next potential fish. I find I have to explain time and again – sales is a process. And as Gabay points out, this timeline must not be laced with false empathy and promises. Globalisation and the internet demands higher standards.

3) Resilience

Every month, I eagerly await the latest writing from Dr. Robert Brooks. His key theme is how children can become resilient to hardships, using their strengths in order to succeed.

The latest blog from Brooks is fascinating. He reaffirms the crucial need for at least one supporting parent. Now, we all know that the work and commercial environment can be cruel. I had one person near sobbing to me last month, as they reported the loss of a few clients, a trusty member of staff quitting and the demise of their website.

By way of a solution, I noted what Brooks concluded on behalf of children:

A caring and supportive relationship is an essential foundation for resilience, but that relationship must be used to reinforce certain attitudes and skills if resilience is to emerge. One such attitude is related directly to a concept I have emphasized in my work, namely,personal control. Resilient people focus on events over which they have some influence or control rather than adopting what researchers have referred to as a “victim’s mentality” and constantly asking, “Why me?”

This is so true and something that all business mentors and coaches should convey to their clients.