Coaching is catching on in the executive and business owner’s world — and for good reason. In todays, rapidly changing and highly competitive business world, “no man (or woman) can be an island”. As your career/business progresses, you can also become more isolated at the top—yet all the more critical it is to have a trusted confidant whom you can access “on-demand” when needed to help you navigate through any situation whether that is simply having that person as your sounding board or as your trusted advisor or both. Two strategic minds are better than one.
At an even more basic level, many executives (whether in a corporation or owning your own business) simply benefit from receiving any feedback at all. I always remind my clients that “it can be lonely at the top”. I remember speaking with another executive coach and we both agreed that as individuals advance to the executive levels or as business owners, personal and professional development feedback becomes increasingly important, yet it becomes more and more infrequent, and more unreliable. As a result, many executives plateau in critical interpersonal and leadership skills necessary to become strong leaders in today’s highly competitive and rapidly changing world.
“Studies unanimously show that “The strongest most impactful leaders have strong emotional intelligence” –Daniel Goleman
“Having an executive coach assigned to you is no longer just for behavioral change, no longer to ‘fix a problem’, and no longer a luxury to have, it is a necessity in order to succeed and achieve your highest levels of leadership in the fastest amount of time. And it doesn’t stop there, your executive coach becomes instrumental in helping you refine and hone your emotional intelligence strengths and your leadership competencies as you grow in your positions and as you positively navigate through what business demands of you. Your executive coach becomes your trusted confidant, your advisor, your go-to-person that you so desperately need in real-time, the higher up the executive/business ladder you climb, in order to and achieve and soar.”
Coaching in “real time” is key to an executive’s success. “Addressing critical situations, encounters, challenges, obstacles, threats and opportunities with your trusted executive coach in real time, can make the difference between career growth or career loss/business growth or business loss”.
Coaching has evolved into the mainstream fast, this is because there is a great demand in the workplace for immediate results and the ability to adapt quickly, change or shift gears midstream, and be resilient during times of rapid and constant change. Coaching can help provide that. How? By providing feedback and guidance in real time and often times before events take place providing the coaching around preparation, delivery and awareness of any obstacles that may lie ahead (removing any blind spots). Executive coaching should always develop leaders in the context of their current jobs, in real-time, without removing them from their day-to-day responsibilities.
Taking your career to the next level can be daunting to say the least and the more successful you have become in your career/business, the more challenging it can be to set the bar higher. Whether you are setting that bar, or it is being set for you.
Many of us are so busy in our day-to-day grind that we cannot or do not see the way to break free from mediocrity. We know we want more from our career and perhaps our personal life, but we find it hard to figure out exactly what we want and how to get it. We don’t know, what we don’t know. Therefore, your trusted and experience coach is valued even more helping you see what is missed as well as removes blind spots overlooked.
Wanting more is entirely normal, even healthy. But for many of us, figuring out how to get to where we want to go is difficult on our own. That's where a coach can help. The right coach can help you identify what you really want and provide you the support and guidance you need to get you there.
A good coach identifies and helps you avoid or remove “blind spots”, set BHAG goals “big hairy audacious goals” and actually achieve them, accelerate learning and targeted business results and build positive relational outcomes and much more.
“Your Career is a Marathon with a Series of Sprints—Your Executive Coach Helps and Guides You Along the Way to Build Your Endurance and Resilience to Win!
Coaching is most effective when you know you are not an island and that two strategic minds are better than one. When you know you want to get from here to over there but are not sure how to do it and all attempts on your own just aren’t getting you there.
There are certain times when executives are most likely to benefit from coaching. Executives should seek coaching "when they feel that a change in behavior—either for themselves or their team members—can make a significant difference in the long-term success of the organization," says Marshall Goldsmith, a high-profile executive coach and author of eighteen books, including The Leader of the Future (Jossey-Bass, 1996).
More specifically, the experts say, coaching can be particularly effective in times of change for an executive—which today is the new norm and is constant. This can include starting in a new organization, promotions, stretch assignments, leveraging new and emerging technologies and other new challenges that impact you, your people and your organization i.e., a pandemic like the Coronavirus. While you may be confident in your abilities to take on new companies, jobs, tasks, even tackling global virus outbreaks, you may feel that an independent sounding board would be beneficial in helping you achieve a new level of sanity and performance. More so, you may recognize that succeeding in a new or existing role requires skills that you have not yet honed or skills you relied on in the past are no longer relevant; an experienced coach can help you identify and sharpen the skills and competencies you need, particularly when you need to do so on the fly and quickly.
Coaching plays an invigorating role. Coaches can help executives "develop new ways to attack new as well as old problems." "When efforts to change yourself, your team, your organization, or your business have failed—you are frustrated or burned out—a coach can be the outside expert to help you get to the root cause, identify what is broken and make the fundamental changes needed to overcome what is not working” says Vicky Gordon, CEO of the Gordon Group coaching practice in Chicago. "Coaching works best when you acknowledge you need help or when you know what you want to achieve and are committed to making it happen." Perhaps, in spite of your outstanding track record, you haven't yet gained the full interpersonal dexterity required of senior management—for example, you're not yet a black belt in the art of influence, which is so important in the modern networked organization. Honing such a skill might be an appropriate and an achievable goal for a coaching assignment.
Perhaps you find yourself feeling like you are not operating at your best, you’ve lost your mojo, lost your “swag”. A dedicated, experienced and passionate coach knows how to help you find and “reignite your passion and get your ‘swag’ back”!
Often, you cannot see the treetops from where you are in the forest and your coach can help you with a fresh, global outside perspective.
Coaching Can Provide Benefits Not Available Elsewhere
"One of the big benefits of a coach is that they aren't tied to the organization, your friends, or anyone else," says Washington, D.C.-based executive coach Linda Finkle. "They are tied to you only, so they support what you want and where you want to go.” Your relationship with your executive coach needs to have the right “chemistry” because it is a trusted relationship and you need to feel comfortable sharing everything and anything you are feeling.
About the Author of this Blog
Coach Jane has over a decade of measurably helping her clients achieve specific goals for their life, leadership, executive level positions and as business owners. Her evidence-based coaching methodology begins with a clear understanding of your unique strengths; personality; emotional intelligence and spiritual gifts and when combined together this information opens your eyes to your “authentic” self within you. This is critical to learn first because from this knowledge you will have greater self-awareness of where you are today, where you need and want to be in the future and together this builds the measurable plan to close the gaps and achieve your short and long-term goals for life, leadership and a successful executive position.
Coach Jane Executive Coaching Services
Futurist Executive and Leadership Transformation
Whether you are an executive in the corporate world or a business owner, I help you think bigger and visualize the future and its impact upon you, your people, and your organization. I help you achieve target goals for yourself, for your people and your business through focused and measurable goal setting and building a tactical plan to ensure you are on the best path to achieve your short and long-term goals. “Remember, what gets measured, gets focused on, gets achieved! “
Your First 100 Days Onboard
If you are a newly hired executive in a new company, or starting a new business, as your executive career transformation coach, I help you identify, understand, and elevate your authentic self-using an evidence-based and measurable executive life/leadership/career transformation coaching methodology called EQi-360™. I help you establish a strong leadership presence and quickly build rapport and trust with all stakeholders and people you will be working with and also who you need to have your back and support your leadership direction. As part of this your 100-day plan for the business is discussed, planned and implemented.
From day one we begin to build a relationship matrix alongside of the organizational matrix that includes personalities and communication styles so that we can quickly assess and learn how to navigate any blind spots, land mines, or simply build synergies more easily from time of introductions.
As your executive coach, I become your ‘invisible weapon’ and can provide you additional career/leadership presence support i.e., Executive Speech Writing, Talking Points and Presentation Coaching, Building a measurably successful “First 100 Days Onboard” Coaching Program and much more into your successful future.
Sources
Reprinted by permission from "Methodology: Do You Need an Executive Coach?" Harvard Management Update, Vol. 9, No. 12, December 2004.
What an executive coach can do for you (June 13, 2005). Harvard Management Update.
For more information, please contact Coach Jane Ryan at www.StrongTowerPartners.com or www.JaneRyanAssociates.com or simply call her at 214-500-7223. Or Email her directly at Email: JRyan@StrongTowerPartners.com or Jane@JaneRyanAssociates.com
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