It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.
– Babe Ruth

Giving your best – every day – is tough. When roadblocks hit us, sometimes we want to throw our hands up and surrender. But in your role as a leader, that’s not an option. Am I right?

Too many first-time leaders look to others in similar roles, realizing that facing all challenges alone seems to come with the job. But is that really so? Have you ever thought about how professional athletes tackle topics such as competition, high expectations, and failure?

Or, have you ever heard of a professional athlete not having a coach? There you go... Elite athletes use coaching to continuously improve their game, overcome obstacles, and perform and thrive in a dynamic and competitive environment.

But most of you never thought about yourselves as athletes, and by ‘running solo,’ you’re missing out on the valuable opportunity of having someone by your side to accompany you through the good times and the bad times, making sure you’ll never give up.

Seeing it from this angle, would it be wrong to consider yourself more as an athlete and adopt these success behaviors to take you to the top and keep you there?

Why start Leadership Coaching?

Leaders start coaching with different requirements, such as ‘knowing what they want but being unsure how to get there’ or ‘not knowing what they want and needing more clarity and self-awareness’, as well as ‘leaders who are doing well but want to go deeper and uncover unproductive behaviors or untangle thoughts. Whatever your specific requirements may be, my coaching process will adapt to your needs.

Talking about specific. Speaking with many CEO/Founders, C-level or senior executives, I collected the most common needs leaders have:

    • human contact: a sparring partner or sounding board, who listens and is by your side because it gets lonely at the top

    • a 3rd party: someone from the outside with no conflict of interest, who adds a different angle and give you new perspectives

    • safe space: room to open up, with no need to proof yourself or feeling judged

    • validation: ascertain reassurance on perspectives, or ongoing subjects and paths to follow

    • inner calm: support when feeling trapped or overwhelmed at work or elsewhere

    • proactivity: ignite your motivation to get into action mode and get things done

    • feedback: learning from observations of ideas, situations, behaviours, and conflicts, to reflect and gain clarity

    • expertise: if needed, advise on specific situations, especially when you’re dealing with certain topics for the first time

Everyone has different reasons to look for a 'sparring partner.' But most of us are seeking for support when we're struggling not only with our performance but also our well-being and self-confidence. The topics shared below usually bring noticeable improvement when being tackled.

    • gaining a clear vision of your business, role, and career

    • improving your effective communication to ensure your message gets across

    • strengthening key relationships with direct reports, clients, peers, and other stakeholders

    • polishing your executive presence (personal brand)

    • managing difficult conversations and conflict while maintaining productivity

    • building more confidence and resilience to bounce back from failure faster

    • evolving from ‘founders only‘ to a company with employees, moving from pure execution to delegation to a great extent

    • dealing with the high expectations of others alongside improving your soft skills and self-management

    • calibrating your leadership styles and their impact on the people around you

    • improving your work/life balance and unplugging from work without feeling guilty

    • fostering your self-worth and disconnecting it from the company's performance

As you can see, a coaching process can go in many directions, depending on the needs and circumstances of the coachee; therefore, the benefits are wide-ranging:

    • higher accountability and ownership, along with increased comfort around commitment

    • enhanced performance (70%*) and influential contribution to your company, as well as a clear idea of your strengths and abilities

    • increased engagement and motivation to take action, ignite change, and empower others

    • improved communication skills (72%*) after untangling thoughts and adopting new habits

    • boosted team effectiveness (51%*) and relationships (73%*) due to an aligned leadership style

    • a fresh perspective and gained self-awareness paired with the ability to zoom out and see the bigger picture

    • raised confidence and self-reliance (80%*) by savoring wins and meaningful changes

    • heightened job and life satisfaction (work/life balance) (67%*) through unlocking your personal and professional potential

    • more effective time management (57%*) and business management (61%*) thanks to a sharp vision and clearly defined goals

    *Source: 2009 ICF Coaching study done by PWC (page 85) . Percentages represent the portion of respondents awarding a positive rating.

You might think: ‘Sounds convincing, but HOW will we achieve all this through questions?’

Asking the right questions at the right time is one crucial factor. The other is to ensure goals will be clarified, doable solutions will be found, targeted plans will be made, and action steps will be defined by shining a light in hidden areas and leaving the comfort zone. Because, as you know, great things never came from comfort zones. 

Ready to grow as a leader? I’d happily accompany you on this journey, giving you the professional support to overcome any obstacle on your way to being an outstanding leader.

You’re interested but still have some questions you would like to get answered?