Why It’s Time To Partner With An Executive Coach: Part I
The decision to partner with an executive coach spans personal and professional considerations. It's an investment of time and money that requires significant tangible and intangible returns. That said, I also believe the “right” executive coach is a crucial tool for business leaders, and it should be a part of your design and operating model.
This past year, as we asked more of ourselves and more of others, we were also reminded of the important role that our support systems play in helping us understand and adapt to new contexts. I remain humbled by the colleagues, clients, and friends who have enabled me to improve my craft and ensured that I can perform at my best. We often ask our colleagues to help us understand and evaluate ourselves but to properly accomplish our goals but we also need more.
Colleagues, bosses, or partners can provide advice and support, but those relationships can be unconsciously biased and often lack the appropriate framework and expertise to provide the most actionable feedback. In many ways, those people are ‘on your chessboard,’ and, therefore, have their own blindspots and confusion. This can be a significant barrier toward achieving the clarity required to overcome that which stands in the way of your team’s goals. I’ve coached for years and have rarely seen teams excellently coach one another - it would be akin to world class swimmers coaching each other from the lanes. This is why, if you have not already, I encourage you to consider partnering with an executive coach this year.
A leader’s ability to learn quickly and deeply needs to be a differentiator for their team, but too often we do this alone, without proper frameworks, or not at all. Coaches become a designated person with whom you can create the space to work through areas of confusion. They bring a tested framework and honed expertise that is crafted specifically to help you achieve your goals. Coaches also enable you to patiently and methodically diagnose problems and reflect on yourself. In starting LionPoint, I have served C-level executives and founders of pre-IPO companies, and we have worked together to process confounding and uncertain contexts while they lead high-growth businesses and teams towards ambitious goals.
The most talented athletes rely on coaches every day to improve and the executives I work with are no different. However, in the business realm, preconceived notions can lead us to believe that people who seek an executive coach are in crisis or have a remedial status; this lacks a fundamental understanding of the full scope of coaching. The best leaders are constantly hungry to understand, accept responsibility for, respond to, and design around the problems they are facing. They seek to process the root causes behind the issues within their organizations, and then they strive to help their companies actualize potential. Accomplishing this requires a high degree of humility, reflectiveness, and ownership. With the “right” coach and model, the partnership will be founded in trust, creating a safe space and establishing the tailored context for you to spike in these areas.
As a former Army Officer and pilot on the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan, as an advisor at Bridgewater Associates, and more recently, as a coach to leaders of ambitious, growing, fast-paced companies, I’m no stranger to challenging circumstances. However, I don’t claim to have the mythical “playbook” because I believe each moment brings its own unique context. I value being able to call on those experiences for perspective and for a degree of wisdom. They simply allow me to understand what it means to lead in (what our evaluation reports would call) “harsh, unforgiving, and dynamic” environments.
To operate in these environments, leaders may ask for and require different things from a coach. Executive coaches operate across different styles and models and it's important to find a coach that meets your specific personality and needs. Next week, in Part II, we will talk about how to think about choosing a coach and coaching style that best aligns with your needs.
The distinct and sole objective of excellent coaches is to help our clients achieve their most ambitious goals. That is how our performance is measured - by the success of the clients we work with. Ultimately, the right coach becomes an important partner, helping you actualize your fullest potential.
