When is it Time to Get a Coach?
What is executive coaching and when should you invest in it.
Executive coaching has seen explosive growth in the past decade and it’s rare to speak to a seasoned executive who has not benefited from some form of coaching over the course of their career. So how do you know when executive coaching could benefit your development? The answer is simple: the right time to find a coach is when you are motivated to change.
What is executive coaching?
The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. The process of coaching often unlocks previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity and leadership.
Professional coaches provide an ongoing partnership designed to help clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and professional lives. Coaches help people improve their performances and enhance the quality of their lives.
Coaches are trained to listen, to observe and to customize their approach to individual client needs. They seek to elicit solutions and strategies from the client; they believe the client is naturally creative and resourceful. The coach's job is to provide support to enhance the skills, resources, and creativity that the client already has.
Why should you consider having a coach?
Executive coaching is not remedial; it is a forward-looking experience. It is an investment. Coaching can benefit many types of employees ranging from individual contributors seeking new leadership or stretch roles to seasoned C-suite executives. Integration coaching can benefit new senior hires in their first 90 days or support existing leaders making a transition to a new team. It can help an employee polish an important presentation and nail the delivery. Coaching can also help individuals process developmental feedback, set goals and create an action plan.
Coaching can play an important role in a leadership development, sales, or professional skills training program to customize the development for each participant. When offered in conjunction with other learning, self-assessments, and feedback, coaching is a powerful driver of accountability.
A Harvard Business Review survey of executive coaches revealed that the top three reasons companies engaged coaching services were to:
Develop high potentials or facilitate transitions (48%)
Act as a sounding board (26%)
Address a derailing behavior (12%)
The common thread in all of these examples is the desire and motivation to make a change, whether it is to embrace a new role, develop capabilities, or unlock potential. Coaching is results oriented.
Atul Gawande, the surgeon, professor and best-selling author of The Checklist Manifesto, describes his experience in his TED Talk:
“…[Describing] what great coaches do… they are your external eyes and ears, providing a more accurate picture of your reality. They’re recognizing the fundamentals. They’re breaking your actions down and then helping you build them back up again.”
Exploring your own view of the world and your situation, processing feedback, defining an action plan and holding yourself accountable with your coach is hard work. Making changes or creating new habits is even harder. That is why a partnership with your coach will help keep you focused, explore the tough questions and hold you accountable to your actions and commitments. Gawande goes on to describe:
“It was painful. I didn't like being observed, and at times I didn't want to have to work on things. I also felt there were periods where I would get worse before I got better. But it made me realize that the coaches were onto something profoundly important.”
Ultimately, when is it time to engage an executive coach? When you are motivated to make a change and ready to commit to the work.
To learn more about Veritas Leadership and the executive coaching services we offer, please visit our website or email us at info@veritasleadershipllc.com.