Research Paper: How Coaching Can Help Entrepreneurs Overcome Their Limiting Beliefs

Research
Paper Assessment
Name: Sheri Bodnaruk Date: July 2, 2012 Student ID: 266001 Email: sheri@barkingturtlemedia.com
Complete your 2000 word research paper and insert it in the space below. Then email this document as an attachment to assessment@icoachacademy.com
How Coaching Can Help Entrepreneurs Overcome Their Limiting Beliefs

International Coach Academy Research Paper Student: Sheri Bodnaruk
Copyright 2006 International Coach Academy Pty. Ltd. Use is governed by the Terms and Conditions at http://www.icoachacademy.com Last updated Feb 2006
Table of Contents
Introduction .............................................................................................4 The Head and The Heart ...........................................................................5 Beliefs ......................................................................................................6 Entrepreneurs and Limiting Beliefs ...........................................................7 Knowing When Limiting Beliefs are Present ..............................................8 Coaching Applications...............................................................................9 Brainstorming.......................................................................................9 Story-telling ........................................................................................10 Forward Thinking................................................................................12 Conclusion ..............................................................................................12 References..............................................................................................14
Introduction
"If Entrepreneurship is a battle, most casualties stem from friendly fire or self- inflicted wounds."1

Many people start their own business because they want to follow their passions and live life on their own terms. They're often driven and are willing to do just about anything to get what they want. Although entrepreneurs may have the "drive", there are times when they can't seem to get out of neutral or discover that they are not the ones driving. According to Noam Wasserman, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, "One of the key things about entrepreneurs is that they have far more potential to make decisions with both head and heart... When you're taking the world on your shoulders, you have to ask yourself, Why am I doing this? If you only listen to your head, the decisions you make at every fork in the road can drive you farther from your personal promised land." (Buchanan, 2012) It's at those times when entrepreneurs' heads and hearts are diverging that coaching can help bridge the gap and bring them back into alignment. This paper will explore how coaching can be used to help entrepreneurs overcome their limiting beliefs when they are stuck at that fork in the road.
1. Wasserman, 2012, p. 3
The Head and The Heart

The head and the heart are sometimes referred to as the thinking brain and the emotional brain. When they work together it becomes easier to see the big picture and resolve issues more effectively instead of simply reacting and making hasty decisions which can lead to less than optimal solutions. In addition, they feel more balanced and more positive, "Positivity opens us. The first core truth about positive emotions is that they open our hearts and our minds, making us more receptive and more creative." (Fredrickson, 2009, p.21) Individually the head and heart are fully functional but a person can never feel sure that they are making the right decision. The head, or thinking brain, is able to separate itself from the heart allowing it to view problems without emotion, as if they were happening to someone else. It can compare different scenarios and visualize the best solution by stepping out to see the bigger picture and looking back in to plan what to do next. The heart, or emotional brain, is most comfortable and happiest when everything is familiar. It is resistant to change and will do anything to maintain long- term emotional patterns and habits. While the thinking brain can provide different solutions from the outside looking in, the emotional brain looks inside for past experiences with similar emotions attached to them. It then blocks the thinking brain and simply repeats the patterns of those past experiences. It views the situation as black or white, yes or no and nothing in between, as Atkinson and Chois put it "this either/or
response... can be readily observed when people are immersed in fear-based thinking". (Atkinson, Chois, 2009, p.24). The emotional brain is what protects people emotionally, which is why it is also called the "heart". It looks at a problem and decides to stay with what is familiar and avoids pain at all costs in order to protect the person. Fear often kicks in when a person moves beyond their comfort zone and begins treading into unknown waters. When this fear-based thinking sets in their limiting beliefs begin to surface. They need to ask themselves what their heart is telling them as well as what their head thinks before deciding on which path to take. It is when the head and heart are in alignment that confident decisions are made and purposeful, committed action can happen.
Beliefs
Beliefs are the rules people live by, whether they are conscious of it or not. They are based on the person's experiences, not necessarily on fact, and they shape who they are and how they do things. "Beliefs act as self-fulfilling prophecies. They act as permissions as well as blocks to what we can do" (O'Connor, 2001, p.18). For example, if a person believes they do not deserve success, they will begin to act undeserving and sabotage their own success thus confirming their belief. If they believe that they do deserve success, they will appear more confident and the likelihood of their success increases, again confirming their belief.
A person may not be aware when a belief is holding them back because some beliefs lay hidden in the emotional brain. These limiting underlying beliefs change how people see the world, they warp reality, and they create a world that is only true to that person. When the thinking brain and the emotional brain are working together the person can become aware of these beliefs and then change can happen.
Entrepreneurs and Limiting Beliefs

A personal survey on Limiting Beliefs Entrepreneurs Have was posted on Linked In and Facebook. The survey consisted of ten limiting beliefs found while searching Linked In Entrepreneur Groups. The responders were asked to rate each belief on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being a belief they definitely had. While most of the twenty-eight responders indicated they had all ten limiting beliefs at different levels the top 3 were: 1. Fear of not being able to execute 2. Fear of failure 3. Fear of putting themselves out there While all of these limiting beliefs are unique, they all have fear as the common thread. Fear that they aren't good enough, they don't know enough, that they will be judged, that they will disappoint their families, and that their decisions will cause their business to fail. Most fear is generated when they begin thinking about either something they have never done before, or they have tried it and it didn't work. When self-doubt seeps in, negative self-talk begins, and their emotional brain takes over. If they are not careful
they will make these beliefs come true unless they manage to think with their heads and hearts, not just with their hearts alone.
Knowing When Limiting Beliefs are Present

A coach can indentify when limiting beliefs are present with the language their clients use. In coaching conversations the client will often use expressions that reveal their limiting beliefs, like "don't", "didn't", "can't", "should", "shouldn't". These are indicators that they are talking about their beliefs. According to NLP innovators Dilts and DeLozier, there are 3 main ways people limit themselves. Hopelessness: The person believes there is no hope; they don't believe it is possible to achieve something. Helplessness: They may believe it is possible but they don't think they are capable to do it. Worthlessness: They believe they are not worthy of something and they don't believe it's possible to attain it. Coaching can support entrepreneurs to move pass these beliefs by helping to merge the head and the heart. The first step is helping them become aware of these beliefs so they can make a choice to change it. There are many tools a coach can use to help entrepreneurs become self-aware and pinpoint their limiting beliefs. The tools that will be explored here are Brainstorming, Story-telling, and Forward Thinking.
Coaching Applications Brainstorming

Coaching Conversation: Coach: "I'm curious about something, you mentioned that you don't feel you'll be able to finish the project, can you tell me a bit more about that?" Client: "Well, I just don't think I can do it. I don't know what I was thinking saying I could have it done with such a tight dead line. It's ridiculous to even think it's possible! I'm going to lose this client!" Coach: "Just so I'm clear, you believe that if you don't finish the project in time for the deadline you will lose your client. Is that correct?" Client: "Yah, I'm going to disappoint him, he is really depending on me to get this done." Coach: "Someone in your position may hire someone to help them, talk to their client to scale down the project, or possibly ask for an extension, what would be the best approach for you in this situation?" Client: "I guess I could hire someone temporarily to help me finish... (thinking) Actually... I got most of the difficult stuff done, I just need some help with the little things that keep distracting me, like documenting the process."

Brainstorming is a powerful tool for coming up with solutions even when the client feels stuck. Milton Erickson calls the technique above the "Chinese Menu Approach". He believed that providing an open-ended list helps the client to "compare options, brainstorm new ones, mix and match, and springboard from one item to an even better idea that is appropriate for them" (Atkinson, Chois, 2007, pp. 46-47). This tool does not tell them what to do but provides alternate choices and possibilities. This can be a starting point for the client to continue to explore and discover new solutions by overcoming their limiting beliefs.
Story-telling
Coaching Conversation: Client: "I'm not sure where all my time has gone! I didn't get anything done this week towards building my business, it's never going to happen!" Coach: "Ok, let's look at yesterday, tell me about your day." Client: "Well, I got up to work out but I got sidetracked with a few emails I had to get out, then the kids woke up and once they were feed and off to school Cindy called and asked if I could pick her kids up after school and watch them for a few hours - she was really in a bind so I said 'yes'. Then my husband called and needed me to take his truck in...." Coach: "What do you notice in the events that happened yesterday?"
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Client: "I'm always busy, I'm always going non stop, people keep coming to me for help and it takes me away from building my business." Coach: "Tell me exactly what you feel is taking you away from your business?" Client: "I don't know, looking after other people's kids and running errands for my husband." Coach: "On a scale of 1 to 10 how important is getting your business going to you?" Client: "10!" Coach: "And how important are those things that take you away from it?" Client: "Ha! Fact is they aren't important to me, I just feel bad so I allow myself to get sucked in to it, I guess I need to stop that." Coach: "What would be the best way for you to do that?" Every person has a story, but are they writing the story or are they allowing others to do it for them? A person can discover the limiting beliefs that are holding them back when they tell their story, what part of the story they are in control of, and what parts they are not. They are then able to step away from it and see it from a different perspective and explore ways to overcome these obstacles.

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Forward Thinking
Another great tool to help entrepreneurs with their limiting beliefs is forward thinking. This tool works by asking the client to visualize their future by telling the story from their future self's perspective. The coach asks the client to imagine they are 10 years in the future and all of their dreams have come true. They get an email and they are invited to their high school or college reunion. The school has built a website called "Where are they now?", what does their page say? Their page can say whatever they want; they don't have to be modest since they did not write it. This creates a space for the client to look at their future life through a different lens allowing them to see their limiting beliefs that might otherwise be obscured. Once these beliefs have been identified they can begin to take positive steps toward overcoming them.
Conclusion
Limiting beliefs can be self-sabotaging to an entrepreneur. If these beliefs are deep rooted, they need to become aware of them and explore them so the entrepreneur can move forward. They need to move from "helplessness", "hopelessness", and "worthlessness" by aligning their heads and their hearts. Once these are aligned it becomes much easier for the entrepreneur to see the big picture
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and discover all the options they have. This is how they will make the best possible decisions and chose the right path when they are at that fork in the road. Coaching plays an important role in the self-discovery and exploration of limiting beliefs. Through powerful coaching conversations the entrepreneur will begin to feel more positive and empowered about their future.
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References
Buchanan, Leigh. (2012. February 28). What Drives Entrepreneurs?. Inc. Magazine. http://www.inc.com/magazine/201203/motivation-matrix.html Fredrickson, Barbara. (2009). Positivity. New York: Three Rivers Press. Wasserman, Noam. (2012). The Founders Dilemmas. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Atkinson, Marilyn, & Chois, Rae T. (2007). Inner Dynamics of Coaching. Canada: Exalon Publishing. Atkinson, Marilyn, & Chois, Rae T. (2007). Step-by-Step Coaching. Canada: Exalon Publishing. Atkinson, Marilyn, & Chois, Rae T. (2011). Flow, The Core of Coaching. Canada: Exalon Publishing. O'Connor, Joseph. (2001). NLP Workbook. Hammersmith, London: Harper Collins Publishers.
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Research Paper: How Coaching Can Help Entrepreneurs Overcome Their Limiting Beliefs

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Research

How Coaching Can Help Entrepreneurs Overcome Their Limiting Beliefs

The Head and The Heart

Entrepreneurs and Limiting Beliefs

Knowing When Limiting Beliefs are Present

Coaching Applications Brainstorming

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