My husband was driving me nuts!!! He had been sniffling and sneezing for the past few days and like most husbands, he’s a REAL baby when he’s not feeling well.
So one morning, as he stood in my office snuffling loudly and pouting, I asked him what medication he had taken.
“Decongestant,” was his reply.
“Did it help?” I asked.
“No.”
“How long ago did you take it?”
His reply, “I’ve been taking it since yesterday morning.”
My reply, “Then why are you still taking it?”
I’m no doctor, but my husband AND my oldest son BOTH started sniffing and snuffing on the exact same day. My son admits he has seasonal allergies, a condition my husband steadfastly denies he has. My husband’s self diagnosis is that he gets colds that last for weeks on end.
My son recognizes the problem and has started taking ALLERGY medicine. As a result, he feels better. He’s not standing in my office snuffling. On the other hand, my husband continues to take a decongestant only cold medication and is still snuffling and sneezing (not to mention watery, red itchy eyes).
They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. As I deal with my two “man-children,” I realize that often times, when we’re looking at our own businesses, we too will make a “self diagnosis” that isn’t based in reality.
That’s the beauty of bringing in an outside eye. Whether you call them a consultant or a coach, sometimes it takes someone from the outside to see clearly what’s going on inside your business.
In the case of my husband, I could clearly see what he didn’t want to see or admit. Obviously a “real man” doesn’t suffer from allergies in his book. So, to remedy the situation, changing the “cold medication formula” in the house was in order.
It would be nice if a coach or consultant could do the same for a business owner, sneak in a dose of what’s needed without alerting the business owner that a cure is being administered. Instead, coaches and consultants must deal in helping business owners recognize what ails their business and get to work administering the right kinds of medicine.
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