Leadership comes with many rewards and also many challenges. Whether you are the business owner or a key manager, your job includes setting vision and tone for your team, executing strategy, attracting and developing talent, and taking responsibility for anything and everything!
Sometimes, it can get overwhelming. You find yourself struggling to identify priorities and to stay focused on what really matters. People issues can drag you away from what you really want to spend your time doing. There is always a boss somewhere setting the bar higher and higher. And, when are you supposed to be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor and the life you want?
Increasingly, business leaders are turning to coaching for themselves as a way to help them get more accomplished with less effort so that they can grow their business and their lives.
Chances are, you are aware of the increase in the use of coaches for people in leadership positions. According to the International Coaching Federation there are currently over 71,000 professional coaches throughout the world. It’s a $2.8 billion industry and it’s growing.
So why are so many top business leaders choosing to use coaches today? Well for starters, it helps them gain a “competitive edge” that brings exponential returns. Top performers realize that they have blind spots. They also realize that they operate off assumptions and biases that may or may not serve them well. They value someone challenging them to address these assumptions and biases to see if they are still of value or whether they may be limiting performance. Sometimes, top leaders, just need a sounding board to help them work out solutions or a “thought partner” to help them gain clarity about their future course of action.
SafeStreets recently sent me to the Center for Executive Coaching where I spent the past year involved in an intensive training program designed to develop a framework and bountiful toolbox so that I could help top leaders in our company grow and prosper.
So how do you take advantage of this? First, you have to honestly want coaching. It’s clear to me that I cannot help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. Coaching, to be effective, has to be something you want.
Secondly, you need to have a clearly defined goal. You need to understand where you are headed or what you are trying to accomplish. This may be the most important piece. You must also understand what’s at stake! If it doesn’t matter whether you accomplish your goal, coaching will not help you.
Finally, you need to understand that a good coach will help you figure out how to accomplish your goal. Don’t expect the coach to give you answers that will magically unlock the door. It doesn’t work like that. It’s through regular conversations and hard work on your part, that coaching can be effective.
If you are interested in having an initial conversation about leadership coaching, reach out to me and let’s schedule a visit.