Leader, Do You Feel Isolated and Lonely?

eat leaders Know that Executive Coaching is Key to Success!
Ten Reasons Every Leader Needs an Executive Coach
 
New and seasoned leaders are faced at times with some very common problems.  In fact, I first heard about some of these common problems in a Harvard Business Review article published back in 2004 (Seven Surprises for New CEOs).  Here are a few of them:

• Nothing in a leader’s background, even running a large business within the company, fully prepared them to be the leader.

• Leaders feel they have lost touch with the day-to-day workings of the company.

• Leaders are flooded with information, but reliable information is surprisingly scare.

 
It is times like those above that you, as the leader, may be faced with how to fix similar problems.  Where do you go for help, who can you trust?  Fortunately, great leaders, through experience, have come to learn that one of the best ways is to tackle the issues is with the help and support of a skilled Executive Coach.  Someone who will challenge their thinking and support them through their actions until they achieve their desired answers or outcomes.
 
My clients, through feedback they provide at the end of their executive coaching engagements, tell me how happy they are with the insights and accomplishments they’ve made during our time together.  Further, they can see their return-on-investment by pointing to the positive impact their accomplishments are having on their organization.  But leaders, perhaps like you, who have never had an executive coach often ask, “what exactly is executive coaching and how can it help me?”
  
To be honest, some clients during our first session together are still wondering how this coaching relationship and process is going to help them. In fact, during some of these first sessions, I’ve heard things like:

• I assume you are here to tell me what I’m doing wrong.

• The fact that you are here tells me my organization is unhappy with me.

• Why should I trust you?

 
So, before I dive into of the awesome benefits (the Ten Reasons), allow me to define executive coaching.  The International Coaching Federation (link?) defines it as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.  Coaching honors the client as the expert in his/her life and work and believes that every client is creative, resourceful, and whole.
Bottom line - executive coaching is simply to help you become more effective - to be a better leader.  Further, executive coaching not only supports you in achieving the results that are important to your personal development and success, but also to the long-term success of your organization. 
 
If you are a leader reading this, I know you are a very bright and capable person.  However, it is likely that the positions you held before you became a leader did not fully prepare you for the leadership role you now have or the role you are aspiring to.  Or you have been an effective leader in the past, but something has changed and you’re finding yourself stuck trying to figure out the solution.  I call these gaps; gaps between where you are currently versus where you need to be in order to be an effective leader. Further, the higher you move up the leadership ladder, the bigger this gap can become.  Why is that?  Here are a few reasons:

• The higher up you go, the more you realize the role has become more complicated than you first imagined;

• The rate of change occurring in business today is mandating that you continually reassess your capabilities and make changes quickly;

• As the leader, developmental feedback becomes even more important – but more infrequent and less reliable.  

• The time needed to address organizational needs have overtaken your own developmental needs leaving blind spots and no sense of direction on how to correct them.

 
If this sounds familiar, I have some good news for you.  Working with an executive coach – in a relationship of trust – will help you customize an approach that allows you to focus on where you are today, where you need to be, and how you are going to get there in the shortest amount of time.  It is working through this process that the real benefits of executive coaching are realized.   Below is my top ten list of Reasons Every Leader Needs an Executive Coach.  However, know there are many more reasons and benefits than what is listed here!

1. Show you how to remove blocks in your life
2. Figure out what your “real fears” are so you can work through them
3. Keep you on track
4. Hold you accountable for results
5. Call you out when you’re not trying
6. Expand your vision of who you can be
7. Walk through challenges together – (like dealing with clients)
8. Help solve business, administrative, and logistical problems
9. Ask you the right questions to guide you to the right direction
10. Call you out on mistakes even before you’re about to make them

​And for fun, here are two more just for reading this article to this point(!):

1. Confirm what you already know, but won’t act on, and
2. Give you permission to do things you wouldn’t otherwise do.

 
Executive coaching is really like holding up a mirror so you can finally see yourself thus allowing you to address those blind spots and make needed changes before it’s too late!
 
I will be discussing these reasons in more detail in future articles, so I encourage you to sign-up for my leadership publication so that you don’t miss out.
 
If you find yourself reading this article and are serious to learn more how we might work together to solve your development needs, please go to my “Contact” page. 
 
Finally, here is the link to the article (Seven Surprises for New CEOs) that pretty much started me on my path as an Executive Coach!
http://tinyurl.com/ycky96a5

 Enjoy!  

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