Congratulations! You’ve made it. You’re at the top of your game. You own your business or lead your business unit. People both within your organization and outside look to you for guidance, insight, opportunities, problem solving, wisdom and the list goes on.
So I ask you, who do you go to as a sounding board and thought partner?
I recently hosted an event for senior leaders and business owners where I asked them the following question: “As leaders you are invested in developing your people. With a show of hands, how many of you have been involved in your own professional development in the past month/quarter/year?” I was disappointed, but not surprised, to see few hands raised.
After a bit of probing, it was apparent the general reason was the need to carve out precious time from extremely hectic schedules in order to make professional development a priority
So why do successful executives consider their coaches an integral part of their toolkit and why should you do the same?
Just ask yourself these two questions:
- Do you have an external, unbiased, judgment free individual who knows the challenges of running a business with whom you can share, brainstorm, test out new ideas, create measurable outcomes, and when you have those amazing wins, celebrate your successes and the cascading impacts to the organization with you?
- Do you dedicate a period of time for reflection on what is working and build future plans to replicate strengths and eradicate roadblocks?
From my experience and through discussions with business leaders across a broad spectrum of industries, the vast majority of senior managers lack both the time and the right individual with whom to have these conversations.
Does it make sense to invest some time in considering how your business could run differently and discovering howmeasurable outcomes could improve?
Hmmmm…
If your answer is “yes”, you’ve just answered why you should partner with an executive coach.
The International Coaching Federation commissioned a study conducted by Pricewatherhousecoopers, looking at the effectivenes of coaching. In this report, 86% of respondants found that there was a return on investment to meausreable outcomes and 96% of respondants stated they would repeat the process. http://bit.ly/1OhZFBh
My own area of expertise is coaching leaders as they navigate through change – professional change… organizational change… leadership change… objective change… KPI change… shifts due to external factors such as the economy, competition, technology… the list goes on ad infinitum and is always tailored to specific to individual situations. I work with executives and business leaders to help embrace change, build strengths and yield measurable results.
There’s a bonus when you work with an accredited executive coach. You’ll discover positive cascading results for your teams, your colleagues and the business as a whole.
