Is leadership coaching right for me?
What would you think if your boss recommended that you start a leadership coaching program? Do you feel concerned that you might be having performance issues? Do you immediately worry that your job might be in danger? Do you feel skeptical? If you think anything other than "yes, this is great news," you are not alone.
Most people think about leadership coaching as something reserved for "leaders in trouble," those employees who are seriously underperforming.
Let me tell you something; this could not be farther from the truth. Leadership coaching is about recognizing a leader's strengths and maximizing their personal and professional potential. There's a cost associated with every coaching program, and companies don't invest in coaching for their unpromising workers; they do it for their best leaders. And when I say best, I mean not only for those who have high-potential but for those great leaders at the top. The one secret that all great leaders know is that learning never stops. That's why the most successful leaders have coaches.
At RethinkWork, we like to define the best leaders as those who work hard to lead themselves better and have a positive influence on those around them.
The journey to growth isn't an easy one, and it begins with you. Before trying to figure out how to grow others, you must first start with yourself. To explain this, we like to use the Sherpa as a model for what a leader worth following looks like.
A Sherpa is a member of the Tibetan people who lives in the Himalayas, well-known for their mountaineering skills and serving as guides to climbers trekking to reach the summit of Mount Everest. The Sherpa people have a genetic predisposition to higher altitudes which means they can climb higher and longer than normal climbers. They have the ability to lead themselves and others up the mountain.
This is what defines a leader — doing their work while helping others do their best for the benefit of all.
Just as climbers rely on Sherpas to guide them and push them to reach their full potential, we need people, tools, and resources to help us climb to the top of our own leadership. Think of a leadership coach as your Sherpa, your guide, someone who is going to meet you where you are and help you grow to the next level.
Having a leadership coach can be incredibly beneficial, but there are certain key characteristics that a leader needs to have for the coaching to be successful. Coachable leaders are:
Committed to their personal growth and leadership development
Sensing they can be more and achieve more
Looking to have a profound, lasting impact for themselves and others
Willing to be transparent, curious, and vulnerable
If this sounds like you, then you might be someone who would get the most out of leadership coaching. It will take effort, time, and commitment, but it's well worth the investment: Coaching is a chance to improve yourself, your career, your future and to positively impact those you lead.
So, if your boss offers you leadership coaching, instead of worrying thinking you might be in trouble, be excited and get the most of out of the opportunity that few are actually given.