Why Hire A Coach?

I can personally speak to the benefits of coaching because I used and still use a coach. Why go at it alone? It's like saying you have all the answers.

I met with my previous coach once a month in person and had several calls throughout the month. My biggest regret is I wish I’d started utilizing a coach sooner. The misconception in leadership positions is that you have to know, be everything, and have all the answers. The coach's full intention is to help you find the answers, develop your thoughts, and grow your awareness. I want a coach to work beside me and my team on the journey.  If you are relying on just time and experience to develop, the journey will be much longer.  The awareness you get from the process that  is layered into your thinking is a lifelong investment as they become developed into you. Great leaders know the journey requires growth and development.

There is a major misconception that getting a coach is something you do when you are struggling or need remedial action. This is sometimes the case. However the majority of the time this is the farthest from the truth in today's business environment. Leadership and executive coaching is something that is growing every year and has become mainstream in many businesses and industries.  Recently I saw a 360 review on an executive and one of the survey questions was if this leader provided enough time to develop his team.  The team rated him very low on developing his team. Developing and growing leaders take time and many don't have more time to allocate to develop the individuals and the team.  A coach can come in beside this leader and work with each member, and the team on the key development areas and add a tremendous amount of energy and value alongside that leader.

When a company makes an investment in a coach, and the team is bought into the process nothing will develop a team faster. The team gets energized when the company commits to developing its leaders. So versus having a leadership team, you will have a team of leaders and that is a much different place to be.

Bill Gates has been quoted as saying, “everyone needs a coach.”  Bill's point in this comment is that everyone needs a person focused on making them better, giving them awareness to their blind spots and working with them to improve.

Think of coaching as the ‘cultivator of human and team potential' in your organization. It’s primarily purpose is to put into action and harvest the human and business potential in your organization. In a coaching environment, the coach doesn’t solve the problems he assists in developing the individual or team that solves the problem. The coach works confidentiality, doesn’t have an agenda and comes from the aspect of developing and finding the answers.  

Why hire a coach for yourself or an employee?

 

• You want to move your leadership and company to the next level

• You are the hardest person to lead – self-leadership

• You have hit a ceiling or know you have higher aspirations

• Your work life balance is out of balance.  

• You are struggling either defined by you or your company

• Your company isn’t moving forward it has plateaued

• You are developing leadership succession in your business

• Great coaches see, say, and know things you can't or don’t

• The training you have invested in isn’t moving your company forward. 

•  The skills that are learned through the process of coaching by the participant can be transferred and be utilized by the participant inside the organization.

• Nothing will energize a leader more than when you invest in developing them

Why hire a coach to work with your team?

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• Team coaching is based on working with the team and working with the individuals inside and outside of team meetings and functions.

• Increase the focus and productivity of the team

• Bring team alignment and action toward team goals.

• You are not getting the results you feel like you have the potential to achieve.

• Foster collaboration and inclusion from all team members

• More effective than team building events because of consistent observations, continued development, and repetition.

• Ensure the talents are deployed in the most effective means possible

• Focuses the team and its members on how each can contribute and add value

• It can be very effective in times of mergers and acquisitions due to the short-term pressure that is placed on the team members and the expansion of the team. It can assist in getting to resolution quicker.

 

In both environments coaching is an individualized process, not a one size fits all approach. It’s personalized and customized to the individual or company. It is based on the participant and their needs and growing their awareness. The development that occurs during the process is lifelong learning that you can utilize as you continue to grow and develop.