Picking a Business Coach, Learn from Apple and Google Exec's

Have you ever considered getting a business coach. Apple's Steve Jobs and Google's Eric Schmidt are arch rivals in the mobile phone business, yet they share at least one thing in common. They both rely on Bill Campbell as a mentor and business coach. Campbell is the former CEO of Intuit (now chairman of the board) and he did exactly what Jobs and Schmidt are trying to do; build a publicly traded consumer-oriented technology company.

So how do you find a mentor and business coach? The key is to find someone who has done what you are attempting to do. Like Steve Jobs, Bill Campbell had led a company in which engineers wanted to make things complex while customers preferred easy-to-use products. Campbell successfully balanced those two interests at Intuit and therefore makes a good coach for Jobs. Eric Schmidt led Google from entrepreneurial leadership under Sergy Brin and Larry Page to an era of professional management while Brin and Page were still in the building. Likewise Campbell led Intuit while founder Scott Cook was still actively involved in the company. Campbell found a way to involve Cook without undermining his own authority to lead. Therefore Schmidt made a good choice in selecting Campbell as his coach.

Who is your mentor or business coach and how did you select them?