If you’ve ever considered working with an Executive & Leadership Coach, you’ll typically have come across the concept one of two ways:
1. Your employer has suggested it to support your professional development
2. Someone you know has worked with one and raved about it
You’ve probably heard that they can be good to help you set goals and achieve your dreams. But that sounds wishy-washy. How can they help you? If you don’t know what you want then it can be even harder when you come to researching which coach to choose.
In order to provide some clarity and help iron out any misconceptions, I’m going to walk you through what you can expect, what you can gain and the overall experience of having a life or executive coach.
1. Getting to know yourself
Coaching can really help you find out more about yourself; what makes you tick, why you fail and why you succeed. A good coach will give you the techniques to get in touch with yourself, to get to know your motivations, your strengths, your skills and essentially who you really are.
Coaching is not counselling but everyone has emotional blocks or triggers that can stop you from taking action. Your coach will work with you to understand what your stopping points are and help you unlock and defeat them.
A good coach however isn’t a battering ram. They’ll take it at your pace.
You’ll set the agenda and you can discuss as much or as little as you like. It can be tough at times as we’re so used to burying our feelings but speaking from experience as both a coach and a client, it’s 100% worth it.
2. Getting clarity
Having a coach can give you the space, time and freedom to really think about what you want and where you’d like to get to. Most of us have a vague idea of how we’d like our career to look but lack the clarity to make it a reality.
The goals and objectives you have now will be management led, results driven and work focused.
What about your own strategy?
What do you want to have achieved by next year?
Your goals and vision are your own individual and personal road-map that encompasses both your personal as well as professional wants and needs.
Goal setting, visioning and dream building is where most coaches will start with you. It can be intensive and unfamiliar and feel like a lot of work. When it comes to personal stuff you’re probably used to setting a few resolutions on New Year’s Eve, but that desire and motivation quickly fades by February 1.
Your coach will support you to find what works for you and teach you how to make it something that you do, and want to do on a regular basis.
3. Getting the time in
An important part of coaching is the commitment. This means your commitment to yourself, your determination to succeed and your motivation to take action to make positive changes in your life.
Your coach will help you through these but the responsibility of doing the work, both in and out of the coaching sessions rests with you. Your coach won’t be prescriptive, or give advice, or handhold.
You’ll need to be resourceful and find the answers and solutions that work for you.
If your coach did the problem solving for you then at the end of the session, nothing would have changed. You wouldn’t be able to carry your learnings through into real life situations and could end up back at square one.
Coaching is a team effort and your coach will also have a commitment to help you achieve the best possible outcome for you.
4. Getting it in place
One of the great things about coaching is that it gives you a structure of support. Whichever method of coaching you choose, either one-to-one sessions or via a membership, there will be set times in your diary that you can access your coach.
The times in between these sessions is where you implement what you’ve learned and take action. These together are what creates the structure.
You can plan ahead and allocate time for whatever it is you’re working towards and you can check back with your coach whenever you need.
They have your back and want you to succeed as much as you do.
Next steps
Deciding to have a coach, whether an executive coach or a life coach, is a big step and one that shouldn’t be rushed.
One of the main factors to consider (besides the cost) is how much time you have to commit to it. You’re not going to see changes overnight so you need to be realistic when thinking about the time and energy you have to give. You don’t want to get to the end of your programme or membership and feel like you’ve not gotten the most out of it.
Remember, not all coaches are the same.
Some will just take your money and won’t push you to reach your best potential. I’d advise talking to a few, looking at their website, their testimonials and keep asking questions until you feel you’ve found the right one.
How I work
All my coaching programmes are designed to support you to step into your next level of leadership whereever you are in your career. That might include people and time management challenges, a lack of confidence, dealing with conflict, or on a personal level, struggling to work out the next step to take in your career.
With my signature 12 month 1:1 coaching programme "Next Level Leadership Transfomation"
I draw on all my experience to help you identify what you want to achieve and build your confidence to get there. The programme employs a variety of tools, strategies and methods to support and motivate you to thrive as a successful and confident leader.
Have a look through my 1:1 Leadership Transformation Programmes for yourself or get in touch and book a FREE Career-Next-Step Clarity Call with me.
BW Jackie
P.S. Looking at costs? Check out my cost blog or visit my programme pages for more information.
