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by Chip AkerMost everyone at the office was afraid of Katherine, the vice-president of operations. When an employee survey saying as much landed on the CEO's desk, he knew he had to act. But he didn't want to fire Katherine. She was his leading choice to replace him when he retired. Still, how could he support her with the data staring him in the face?
The consulting firm that performed the survey told the CEO, “If she is as valuable to the firm as you say, we recommend that Katherine work with a coach.”
When the decision to hire a coach was communicated to Katherine, many questions filled her mind: “I thought coaches were just for athletes. Is this some sort of therapy? Does this mean that I’m somehow “broken” and need fixing?”
Yet, at the same time she felt an unexpected sense of hope. Katherine knew that she intimidated people in her firm. Yet, she had never been able to understand why and now, maybe, a coach could help her sort it out and make some needed changes.
Coaching as a business has been around since the mid-1980’s. Today approximately 25,000 full-time coaches practice worldwide, about three-quarters of them in the United States, according to the International Coach Federation (ICF), the leading coach credentialing organization. More than 6,500 are members of ICF, up from 1,500 just a few years ago.
Coaching is not a replacement for psychotherapy, as many have asserted. It is a service for high-functioning individuals who want more out of life. Coaches who have been through a reputable training program are equipped to monitor for signs of emotional illness. If a coach suspects such problems, he or she is trained to refer the client to a mental health professional. One of those signs is significant depression--someone who is suffering from severe depression is unlikely to even benefit from coaching.
What are the benfits of coaching?
- Coaches help you set better goals. One of the most prized skills of a coach is the ability to ask powerful questions--those that focus on what’s important, and why.
- Coaching provides perspective. Myopia is the inability to see any perspective but the one you have. Coaches help their clients see other valid perspectives. They want your success but they are not emotionally attached to the outcomes.
- Coaches are invested in you getting what you want. Your happiness is closely related to your reaching goals, so your coach will keep you moving meaningfully toward your desired objectives.
- Coaching provides gentle accountability that produces greater results than you would achieve on your own. When you declare your goals to your coach, he or she will check back to find out how things are going. This provides powerful incentive for doing what you say you will do.
- Coaches provide the tools, structure and support that helps you get what you want. Being invested in your success, coaches know that no one is superman or superwoman. We all need help here and there to be the best that we can be. Coaching provides the missing ingredients so that your probabilities of success are at their highest.
So what value did coaching provide for Katherine? She discovered that she comes alive when she is developing and training others. Before the coaching, she never attempted to lead from that perspective. She now knows that she makes a positive, significant impact when she leads from the perspective of helping others grow.
This new perspective of her leadership style has impacted the organization in several ways. First, she delegates more and that gives her employees healthy challenges. Second, she is seeing stronger peer relationships emerge because she is relating to them from the mindset of ,"How can I offer support that will develop the organization?" Third, her passion for training and developing has inspired her to develop a leadership development program. And finally, her employees are happier because Katherine is happier. Honoring her values and providing leadership from a value base has lowered her stress significantly.
Says Katherine,“I wish everyone on our Executive Team could have this experience!”
~ Chip Aker is a professional coach who specializes in working with female executives and professionals on issues of leadership, career burn out and work / life balance. To learn more about his coaching services, or to comment on this article, click to e-mail Chip.
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