Seasoned leaders benefit from a neutral perspective when you hire an executive coach

The people on your leadership team likely made it there thanks to their proven expertise and successful record in your business and industry. While they are certainly well qualified to run a business, working with a skilled coach can help them achieve even more for your organization. When you hire an executive coach, you invest in your people and processes for the long-term.

Here are my Top 5 Reasons to Hire an Executive Coach:

5. Help people lead with their strengths.
A coach will help each executive identify his or her key strengths and ways to enhance them to better serve the organization. In addition, a coach will work with leaders to deepen the key skills they need to become great leaders, including: executive presence, emotional intelligence, the ability to inspire others, negotiation skills, how to empower staff and much more.

4. Identify missed opportunities.
Some executives let ego and emotions get in the way of becoming better leaders. Coaching should not be viewed as commentary on one’s lack of skills. On the contrary, as noted above, a good coach will help people use their individual strengths more effectively.

Yet we all have blind spots that could lead to missed opportunities, and all business leaders benefit from a humble awareness that additional perspectives on an issue can only serve to strengthen their results and the entire organization.

3. Remove pressure and create a space for honesty.
By the time top performers reach an executive level role, many of them feel pressure to know it all. They might feel embarrassed admitting when they don’t have an answer or that they need help.

Working with a coach gives them a safe space, away from peers and their teams, to work through any current challenges. Discussing these issues and strategies in private will allow them to discover solutions, including identifying which team members they can tap as resources to solve problems and lead projects.

2. Move from reactive mode to proactive mode.
While it’s human nature to fall into a routine and follow a pattern of proven success, it pays to take a pause away from day-to-day structure. Stepping away from rote approaches to work with a coach allows executives time to think creatively. Dedicating that time and mental energy to strategic thinking can help your leadership team begin to innovate. That proactive mode allows your team to move steps ahead of the competition to identify what’s next and how your organization can outpace the pack.

1. Create a culture of excellence and collaboration.
Executive coaching can help bring leaders and their teams together around a common goal. When coaching becomes part of your organizational culture, employees at all levels begin to see their own contributions to the whole. In addition, coaching can provide people with the skills they need to advance and develop their careers within your organization.

In fact, surveys show that coaching in 2020 is viewed as a valuable employer perk. As Forbes reports:

“...coaching is often seen as a highly sought-after employee benefit. It is a desirable perk and an indicator of an employer’s willingness to invest in talent development. It also increases workplace happiness, according to this survey report. Over 2,400 employed adults in the U.S. and U.K. were surveyed to understand how training impacts the decisions they make at work. Of U.S. respondents, 32% said they find learning opportunities critical to workplace happiness. In fact, 36% — and almost half (48%) of all millennials — said they would quit a job due to a lack of learning opportunities.”

Investment in employees and leadership development creates a culture of excellence. It also helps you develop a strong talent pipeline and succession plan. When you train your people with an eye toward the future, everyone wins.

To learn more about how executive coaching can bring out the best in your leadership team, contact me for a free strategy call. I have worked with businesses and teams of all sizes, and I specialize in delivering a strengths-based, collaborative approach to leadership training.