If you’re an ambitious freight agent, you have some goals in mind that you’d like to hit in the next six to 12 months. Maybe it’s growing your book by 10%. Maybe it’s bringing on a new team member. Whatever your goals, always ask yourself: “Am I dreaming big enough?”

We want to help our agents answer that question, so we’re now offering executive coaching to our agents. It’s just one more way we support our agents, no extra cost. The program will be led by Ellie Martin, our Director of Human Resources and a certified executive coach — trained by the same team that works with NBA players and executives at Netflix. 

Why add executive coaching to what we offer our agents? We believe agents thrive when they have every possible tool available to them. It’s that simple. Coaching offers a unique blend of vision-casting and dreaming, plus challenging and pushing towards new heights.

Agents already have our agent development team in your corner for tactical work, like building a sales plan and working through challenges. This new addition helps agents embrace their full potential. 

It Starts With Your Vision

Every coaching relationship with Ellie begins with the same question: what’s your vision? Your vision should be something bigger than your quarterly numbers. Where do you want your business and your life to be a year or two from now? That’s usually where people start playing it safe. Our brains are wired to keep us comfortable, and Ellie calls it the “intuitive fence,” a boundary we build around ourselves and rarely dare to step past.

A good vision can help you push past that barrier. “Vision is the image of a future that ignites passion in yourself and in others,” Ellie explains. “Is it compelling enough to pull you through the pain of transformation?” If it doesn’t feel a little impossible, you’re probably still dreaming too small.

Once your vision is set, that vision serves as a filter for everything else. Does this customer fit? Is this conversation moving me forward? Your vision can even change how you look at rejection. Making 100 cold calls with nothing to show for it can feel like a wasted day — but with your vision in mind, the paradigm shifts. “You got somewhere,” Ellie says. “Does it serve the greater vision? Nine times out of ten, it’s yes.”

Where Coaching Fits In

You’ve got goals, and you’ve put together a great plan with Jordan and Bob on our Agent Development team. Now, why aren’t you executing? What’s getting in your way? 

Often, what gets in our way isn’t a lack of skill or capability. As Ellie shares, obstacles can be the stories we tell ourselves. Stories like “I’m not good enough to go after that account,” or “They’ll never say yes.” Ellie helps agents identify those stories, and then rewrite the story to set the stage for success. 

“When I’m working with an agent and we identify those stories, I’ll ask, “Is that 100% true? Or is that just a story we’re making up because it’s safer than thinking about what else is possible?’” Ellie says.

The next step, Ellie says, is trading that story for a better one. “If I started operating from a place of ‘I am enough,’ how differently would I show up for my team, for my customers, or for my family?” she shares.

What to Expect

Coaching sessions run about 45 minutes, every other week, and Ellie is upfront about her expectations — because success, she explains, happens when we take ownership. Being on time means joining within 60 seconds of the start, and if you need to reschedule, she asks for at least 24 hours’ notice. “It puts skin in the game,” Ellie explains. “We get better by putting heavier weights on the bar.” In other words, what you put in is what you get out.

Time to Dream Bigger

A top-tier executive coach can run you anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 a month. But for Tallgrass agents, it’s another perk of being part of our network. And we guarantee the payoff will reach well beyond your P&L. “Coaching impacts not only the agent, but every other person they interact with,” Ellie says. Your family. Your customers. How you work with our back office team. It all ripples out from there.

Of course, none of that can happen without some pretty heavy lifting on your end. Growing a business is hard, but so is staying stuck. As Bob Brown likes to say, choose your hard. 

Know there’s more in you and ready to take the next step? We’d love to talk. Contact our team to learn about how executive coaching (and the rest of the Tallgrass difference) can help you build the business and the lifestyle you want.