It never hurts to get guidance when it comes to your career.
This is where Aaron “Coach-Carter” comes in. He is the founder of Carter Performance Group and Aaron Carter Coaching and Consulting, career-building companies centered on driving excellence via group and individual consultation.
Over the course of 15 years, Coach Carter has become to go-to authority on corporate culture, providing advice on thought leadership, career guidance, marketing and sales strategic support, among other issues. He had a 29-year career in retail, which helps Coach Carter to show top retail organizations how to work smarter and drive measurable results. He's held management and leadership roles within industry-leading retail organizations, including Ross and Walmart. When he is coaching, all of this experience comes into play.
Carter also pulls from his own personal work experiences. He said that early on in his career, he felt he didn't have a voice among his fellow co-workers. He also felt underutilized, undervalued, and unheard by his team. He had to learn to adopt more effective leadership and communication skills. He now coaches other professionals in various industries on how to find their voice and increase their career potential.
"I was searching for a way to leverage my natural affinity for inspiring and leading people to success. I wanted to find a way to help individuals navigate through career and life challenges, and the coaching profession offered an opportunity to do just that," Carter said in an interview. "I looked at the business model of successful motivational speakers and discovered most of these speakers were coaches.I committed to learning and understanding the profession, taking coaching classes, and earning my certification as a trained coach."
Coach Carter has developed proprietary leadership and career programs, including Powerful™ (Providing Opportunity Within Everyone’s Reach for Unprecedented Leverage), People Priority Principles (PPP), 7 P Philosophy, Turnaround Leadership and Leaders Role in Building Effective Teams- programs proven to transform participants through engagement, understanding, and encouragement and drive personal and organizational success. These programs have been utilized to inform the growth and development of both individuals and teams within companies, including Lockheed Martin, Walmart, and more.
He helps people develop a resolution to commit to changes that will bring them success. There is a reason, for example, people often fail at their New Year's Resolutions.
"New Year's resolutions are challenging to keep. In fact, according to recent surveys, nearly 80% of New Year's resolutions fail," Carter noted.
He added, "Three key reasons why it may be difficult to keep their New Year's goals on track are: 1) The why is not strong enough. The reason the resolution was made is not strong enough to push every day in spite of challenges; 2) Underestimating the sacrifice needed to achieve the resolution and when sacrifice is needed. Oftentimes, it is challenging to make all of the sacrifices needed in order to achieve the resolution; 3) There is no specific plan that includes working on achieving the resolution daily. It is critical to have a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relative, and Time-bound) plan to achieve their resolution."
There are techniques to keep not only your New Year's Resolutions but any goal you have in mind.
Carter shared three techniques. "One: Identify the root cause for the resolution and ensure the root cause will cause you to work towards achieving the resolution even when you are tired," he said. "Two: Write down how the resolution will be achieved. Write a SMART Plan. Three: Utilize daily affirmations for yourself (ex: I can achieve this. I will achieve this. Faith without work is dead. Therefore, I must work at achieving this resolution daily)."
It is for such advice that people have been turning to career and life caches like Carter.
"Research shows that the use of a life coach was up 33% from 2015-2019. Since then, the use of a life coach has increased significantly due to Covid," noted Carter. "More and more, individuals are looking for third-party guidance, support, and encouragement to help them make a positive change in their everyday lives. The global pandemic served as a catalyst for many to evaluate where they are in their lives, both personally and professionally."
Coach Carter serves on the boards of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Dallas, DeSoto Texas Economic Development Corporation, DeSoto Texas Chamber of Commerce, Best Southwest Chamber of Commerce and the Detention Center Volunteer Ministry. Coach Carter earned his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Dallas and his M.B.A. in Leadership from Walden University. He is a certified Co-Active Coach, earned from the Coaches Training Institute.
For people who may not know what a life coach does, Carter explains.
According to Carter, a good life coach does the following:
- Get to know the client and build a rapport with the client--The establishment of a healthy relationship with your coach can serve to help you build stronger relationships with loved ones, colleagues, and more.
- Identify the goal(s) of the client-- A good life coach will help you to focus on your end goal, improving self-efficacy and self-empowerment. A life coach will hold you accountable for utilizing the newly identified actions and behaviors.
- Assist with identifying a plan of action to achieve the goals- Your life coach can help you curb procrastination and provide much-needed clarity on actions and steps to take. That in itself is a major hurdle and can put you on the path to attaining your goals.
- Celebrate small wins and ultimate wins with the client -- Oftentimes, we forget or don't acknowledge progress. A life coach can serve to remind you to celebrate yourself and your wins.
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