Not a crisis call. A growth move.
Why Working With a Coach is Like Hiring a Navigator, Not Abandoning the Wheel
Katie Decker-Erickson, Success by Design
There are seasons in business when things are objectively going well, yet the experience of running the business feels heavier than it used to. Decisions take longer. Momentum requires more effort. You are moving forward, but with less clarity and more friction. When that happens, the question is rarely about capability. It is usually about support.
During COVID, my husband and I found our own form of clarity on the water. Boating became our escape. We learned how to captain our own boat, read conditions, and make decisions together in real time. It was grounding and empowering. We were fully in control, but we also quickly learned how much awareness it took to navigate well. Wind, weather, traffic, and timing all mattered more than we expected. Being capable was not the same as being strategic.
Running a business without a coach is a lot like captaining a boat you built yourself. You know every board, every decision, every late night that went into getting it afloat. You can steer. You understand the water. You have gotten yourself this far on instinct, experience, and determination. But as the boat grows and the waters change, navigating alone starts to demand more energy than it should.
Most business owners do not seek out a coach because something is broken. They seek support because they can feel the conditions shifting. The business is bigger. The stakes are higher. The margin for error feels smaller. You are still capable of steering, but you are also carrying the full weight of navigation, decision making, and course correction on your own.
From an individual perspective, coaching becomes valuable when your internal compass feels slightly off. You may be hitting external milestones while quietly questioning whether the pace or direction still aligns with the life you want. You may feel like you are constantly adjusting the sails without ever stepping back to look at the map. Coaching creates space to lift your eyes from the waves and evaluate where you are actually headed, not just how fast you are moving.
A coach functions like a navigator. They do not take the wheel. They do not tell you where you must go. Instead, they help you read conditions more clearly. They notice patterns in the wind you have grown accustomed to fighting. They ask questions that pull you out of reaction mode and into intentional decision making. That outside perspective often reveals that what felt like resistance was really just a need for recalibration.
On a personal level, coaching is especially powerful during transitions. Growth seasons. Contraction seasons. Seasons where family, health, or capacity shift priorities. Boats are designed differently depending on the journey. What works for speed does not always work for endurance. A coach helps you adjust your approach so the business supports the season you are actually in, rather than forcing you to operate as if every season requires expansion.
From a business standpoint, coaching becomes increasingly valuable as complexity grows.. Early on, the captain does almost everything. As the boat expands, systems, delegation, and leadership matter more than individual effort. Many business owners continue operating like deckhands long after their role requires them to navigate from above. Coaching supports that shift, helping owners move from constant reaction to intentional leadership.
A good coach helps you zoom out. Pricing, positioning, process, team structure, and marketing do not operate independently. They affect one another in ways that are difficult to see when you are deep in the day to day. Often what feels like rough water is not a performance issue at all. It is a navigational one.
Decision fatigue is another clear signal. When every choice feels heavy, it is usually because you are making decisions without clear coordinates. A navigator helps establish those coordinates. Values. Priorities. Non negotiables. With those in place, decisions become lighter. You move forward with more confidence because you are no longer questioning every turn.
Who you choose as a coach matters. Industry proximity is essential. You want someone who is actively working in the industry, not observing it from a distance. The creative and design space has a distinct rhythm, pressure, and emotional load. A coach who understands the heartbeat of the industry brings relevance and credibility. They understand clients, timelines, margins, and the invisible labor that comes with creative leadership. That lived understanding changes the quality of guidance entirely.
It is also important to understand what coaching is not. It is not about being told what to do. It is not about handing over control or following a rigid formula. The strongest coaching relationships are collaborative. You remain the captain. The coach helps you navigate with greater clarity, alignment, and sustainability.
Timing matters. The most effective moment to bring on a navigator is not when the boat is already taking on water. It is when you sense bigger waters ahead. When the journey is becoming more complex. Coaching shortens the learning curve and reduces unnecessary wear on both the business and the person running it.
Ultimately, working with a coach is not about giving up control. It is about honoring the reality that growth changes the terrain. You built the boat. You earned the right to steer it well. A coach simply helps ensure the direction you are heading supports both the business you are building and the life you want to live within it.
Katie Decker-Erickson is the host of the podcast Success by Design: Mastering the Business of Interior Design and an interior design business coach who also owns and operates a multimillion-dollar design firm.