Executive coaching is no longer a nice-to-have. It is a must-have for leaders who want to stay sharp and move fast in a world that’s operating at lightning speed. When complexity spikes and stakes rise, top leaders turn to coaches to cut through the noise unlock their potential and stay sharp. Here are seven reasons why leaders are hiring executive coaches and what that means for their success.
1. “I’m drowning in demands and feel exhausted all the time.”
Leaders will often reach out to a coach because they’re feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Their feelings are real. Demands for results have never been higher, even as staffing levels reach record lows.
A good coach will help a leader uncover what’s dragging them down. In some cases, the leader may have fallen into the trap of micromanaging or agreeing to take on more than the team can possibly handle. Sometimes leaders are compensating for bad hiring decisions, cleaning up problems that never should have happened.
Diagnosing the causes of a leader’s exhaustion and working with the leader to create behavior changes can be life changing.
2. “I’m told I’m difficult to work with.”
Sometimes the toughest challenge is hearing how others perceive you. You think you’re easy to work with, only no one else agrees. Coaches uncover blind spots, gather honest feedback, and help leaders develop interpersonal skills. The result is better relationships, stronger influence, and a leadership style others want to follow.
An effective coach will tell you what others are afraid to say. Although the feedback you receive may be hard to hear, it’s often exactly what you need to hear.
3. “I’ve just been promoted and I’ve never managed before.”
Welcome to the club! The only requirement to be admitted is that you’ve excelled in your previous role. Now you’re in charge. If you’d like to stay in your new role, get thyself a coach right away.
Likely it’s not what you’re doing that’s going lead to your demise. It’s what you’re not doing; and you won’t find out what you’re not doing until it’s too late.
Most new leaders focus their time working on new tasks when instead, they should be focusing on building relationships with those above them and their new peers. As a newly promoted executive (at the age of 24), who made this very same mistake, I can attest to the fact that if you don’t manage up, you won’t have to worry about managing down, as you won’t have a job.
Find a coach who has been where you are and where you want to go. Your investment of time and money will pay off exponentially.
4. “Office politics are killing me.”
Who doesn’t love a game of office politics? Every organization, no matter how large or small, has office politics. And the higher up you go in the organization, the more intense the politics gets. One wrong move and you’re out on the street!
It’s an incredibly tough job market out there and the last thing you want is to join the millions of people who are currently unemployed because of one avoidable mistake.
An experienced coach can help you safely navigate through the landmines that have taken others out with just one misstep. They’ll listen without bias and will provide guidance to help you maneuver, while remaining true to yourself.
5. “I’ve got tough conversations coming up.”
Can we talk? Yep, I get that a lot. Many leaders find having difficult conversations one of the least favorite parts of their job, which helps to explain why they avoid them at all costs. However, in today’s tumultuous environment you may be called upon at any moment to tell someone on your team they are being laid off. Or perhaps you have an employee who is not performing up to expectations. Or worse, one of your team members has accused another member of sexual harassment.
When you’re working with a coach, you can ask that person to roleplay with you to help ensure the conversation you’re about to have doesn’t quickly go sideways. A good executive coach will also help you stay on track and will push you to have some of the conversations that you’ve been avoiding sooner, rather than later.
6. “I need a sounding board.”
You’ve heard the saying, It’s lonely at the top. Well, it’s true. You can’t very well tell one of your people how you’re feeling about a confidential situation or worries you may have about the stability of your company.
An executive coach is sometimes a leader’s only unbiased partner. They’ll tell you the truth no matter what, whereas one of your VPs may be more concerned about keeping her job than helping you keep your job.
Sometimes you may just need to hear yourself speak. A good executive coach will listen deeply and offer advice when asked. They may ask follow up questions that sheds a new light on the topic at hand.
7. “I’d like to talk about what’s next for me career wise.”
You may have had one of those tough weeks which has given you pause. You think it may be time to move on, yet you’re not sure if that’s the exhaustion speaking or if this is really what you want to do.
An executive coach can offer you the opportunity to explore what’s next for you in your career. This person can help you find the right words to begin this discussion with your boss or even your spouse. Maybe what you need is some time off or a fresh challenge in another department within your current organization.
Leaders don’t have time for guesswork. Executive coaching cuts through the clutter and gets straight to what matters, fixing what’s broken, sharpening what’s strong, unlocking the next level of leadership, and providing peace of mind. If you want to keep pace in today’s fast-moving world, coaching isn’t an expense, it’s an investment in your future. The question isn’t if you need a coach but when you’ll start.