How Can Executive Coaching Help You?
I’ve been in professional leadership roles now for almost 23 years, as a business owner, consultant, and an Executive Coach.
- I’ve studied leadership.
- I’ve taken professional coursework.
- I’ve had to practice what I preach and do the work, sometimes with grace and brilliance, and sometimes as a hot mess.
I’m absolutely fascinated with people and why they do the things they do. And through my discoveries I have felt compelled to share my stories – the things that I have learned working with great leaders, as well as leaders that struggle to get it right. Leading others and inspiring people to do anything isn’t easy for many of us. It takes work. It takes great intention. But I still believe it is the most powerful privilege we are given…to Lead.
Last week I had a full-day retreat with my Executive Coach and myself. She has been in my life for almost 13 years now. This day was all about acknowledging my wins, challenges and breakthroughs over the past year, and setting intentions for a new year ahead. It was about declaring a theme for my new year, and for also letting go of some stuff that holds me back. I had to own my shit. I spent some time shining the light on what was working well in my business, and where I tend to get stuck. And, I had to put some new strategies in place to help me get where my business needs me to go next. It was a day of renewed growth and transformation.
The power of the coaching relationship is real.
For me, it’s a lot about accountability and embracing the opportunity to stop trying to figure everything out on my own, in isolation. Being a business owner is isolating and it can feel lonely at times, especially when you are a high achiever and get stuck in the web of comparing yourself to others and listening to those gremlins in your head that chatter, “Who are you to be successful?”
Coaching also provides a framework for support, in a life-saving way. I find myself like many of my own clients some days, when I’m simply reacting to the whirlwind of the day and everything that is going on all around me – my email, my clients’ needs, unexpected requests of my time and problem-solving for others, my family’s needs, life! It’s really hard to be creative and proactive when you spend all of your time in this reactive state. And it also causes a lot of physiological stress and strain when you get “stuck” in this mode for long periods of time. Coaching requires you to pause and pay attention to what’s really going on, with yourself and others around you.
Having coaches in my life has been the cornerstone of my success. It’s helped me stay focused and it has given me permission to work on myself and my business, in a way that has changed my life. Through coaching I made some really pivotal life decisions that required me to honor my personal needs and muster up the courage to do things I would never have imagined I would have the courage to do. Things like ending an unhealthy marriage, leaving a corporate job that wasn’t honoring my personal and professional goals, saying “no” to lucrative career opportunities because it would have required me to live and work against my grain, setting boundaries in relationships and with clients.
Why I am a leadership coach…
I do the work that I do because I see the value in having an advocate and partner in your ring who holds space for you to confront some of your greatest fears, and provides space for you to jump wildly into your life in the way that you have been called to leap…with courage and intention. When you are a business owner, your business and your people are counting on you to get it right. So is your family. This isn’t a dress rehearsal, this is your one precious life. It seems we have a responsibility to figure our stuff out, and get it right.
When I speak to groups or facilitate workshops of any size, I always tell my audience, “If you want a better team, be a better leader. There are no shortcuts. You have to do the work. And if you aren’t interested in doing this work, you might consider stepping aside and letting someone else do it.” It might sound kind of harsh, but I believe it’s true. The clients who sign up for my leadership program and invest time and money to work with me believe it, too. They understand the importance of becoming the best leader they can possibly be, so they can lead and develop their teams, in that order.
The seemingly trite old saying, “It’s lonely at the top”, really resonates for my clients, and rings louder as the business grows and scales and the years pass by. However, once you embrace a coaching relationship with someone who gets you and understands your business, the less lonely it becomes. Find a coach you trust who will take your hand and walk with you where you need to go. It might be the greatest gift you will ever give yourself as a business owner. You deserve to enjoy your business!
You want a better team? Be a better leader! Take a deep breath and make that leap – you don’t have to do it alone.
Learn about Theresa’s customized Leadership Development Program