10 Reasons To Engage With A Professional Coach

By Ronnie L. Bryant, CEcD, HLM, FM

 Do you ever wonder what professional coaches really do for you? Executive coaching was once shadowed with a curious skepticism, but today the industry is booming. CEOs, managers, business owners, industry leaders, and other executives have realized that engaging with a professional coach can help them excel in their careers.

 Let’s take a look at the top ten reasons executives call on professional coaches to learn, grow, and help them achieve their business goals.

 "Training is good, but it's coaching that helps you make the improvements needed." -      Gordon Tredgold, Founder and CEO, Leadership Principles

 #1. Better Leadership Ability

 If you are trying to advance your career, your leadership skills must be up to par. An executive coach helps professionals boost their emotional intelligence and self-awareness, both critical attributes of any great leader. Being a leader is all about solving problems with confidence, grace, and compassion. People with higher emotional intelligence are known to be better leaders because they create a more positive working environment.

 #2. Better Clarity and Focus

 Sometimes life can get the better of us at any given time, and we need a guide to help us get refocused and re-energized. An executive coach helps executives home in on what really matters. If you lack focus, the culprit could be that you just do not know how to organize your time and attention efficiently. Improved clarity and focus will ultimately lead to a more productive workday, reduce stress, and help you become a model for your colleagues and collaborators.

 #3. Improved Interpersonal Skills

 Exceptional social and communication skills are critical for any successful relationship, both inside and outside of the workplace. High emotional intelligence is often associated with advanced social skills. As mentioned in #1, leaders should be extremely self-aware. Leading executives must have excellent communication skills, work collaboratively, and convey their thoughts and ideas without coming across as overbearing and domineering..

 #4. Increased Confidence

 "The workplace and marketplace are changing, and those changes can be challenging and chilling." -      Judy Feld, Executive Coach at Coachnet.com

 As Judy wisely states, changes are inevitable, but it is how we handle them that help make or break us. Lack of self-confidence is one of the biggest inhibitors to our success. When we think negatively and only focus on the pitfalls and problems, we tend to hold back from even trying to get to where we want to be. In that space we are driven by fear and that means reticence to do what needs and must be done on our journey toward achieving our goals. A professional coach helps you build confidence, eliminate thoughts of self-doubt, and visualize success.

 #5. More Motivation

 While it may be well known that motivation is a crucial ingredient to being successful, did you know a professional coach can help with that aspect of success? It is human nature that we sometimes feel burned out, or like we've had enough and don't want to give 100% of ourselves any longer. Coaching can help teach you skills to cope with the long working hours, challenging tasks, seemingly impossible hurdles, and the everyday obstacles you will face as a business leader.

 #6. Getting Closer to Your Goals

 Achieve what you want to achieve. A great coach will care about your goals and aspirations, and work one-on-one to help you obtain them. A professional coach can be a reliable support system. They want the best for you, and they will get to know you on a personal as well as professional level. Sometimes relying on co-workers and family members for support and advice can be conflicting. A coach is an unbiased third-party who is independent and unencumbered in terms of your personal and business relationships.

 #7. Learning Better Ways to Respond

 You may be familiar with Marshall Goldsmith; he is one of the best-known executive coaches in the U.S. He says, "As an executive educator and coach, I help people understand how our beliefs and the environments we operate in can trigger negative behaviors." The way we treat those around us is so important, especially for a person in a leadership role. A professional coach will help you learn how to inspire and direct others in a way that empowers them and generates engagement, alignment, and achievement.  

#8. Increased Accountability

Have you ever made excuses for yourself? Well, we all have, but that does not make it ok. It is so easy to brush things under the rug instead of taking responsibility for our actions. However, being accountable for our actions is absolutely critical for any credible and true leader. To that end, your coach can serve as an invaluable accountability partner. They can help train you to stop making excuses and procrastinating, as well as give you the confidence to own up to and deal with mistakes - because mistakes will happen! Your coach is the person who will help make sure you keep your promises and commitments. Remember, a leader is someone whose words have meaning and whose actions speak even louder than their words.

 #9. More Empathy

 "Empathy is not a soft nurturing value but a hard commercial tool that every business needs as part of their DNA." -      Rene Schuster, former CEO of Telefonica Germany

 Being a leader means being able to put yourself in someone else's shoes and understand how their feelings and emotions underpin what they think, say, and do. An empathic leader will always be more trusted and supported - meaning colleagues and associates will likely put in more effort and work harder for and with them. As humans, we are emotional beings and that includes during business hours. A professional coach can help you learn how to be more understanding and compassionate. Keep in mind that making those around you feel comfortable, understood, and supported will get you a lot further than making them feel under pressure, tense, and stressed.

 #10. Leveraging Existing Strengths

 It is a common phenomenon that we find many people have hidden qualities and strengths that can make a significant impact when brought to the surface. A supportive coach can help you uncover strengths you already have but may be unaware of, or underestimating. A coach will help you see the value and uniqueness that is already inside of you and waiting for the opportunity to shine. Not only can a professional coach help you leverage your strengths, they can effectively train you on using those strengths or the benefit of yourself and your team members.

  "There is no evidence the world is a better place because of what we know. The world is a better place because of what we do."-      Marshall Goldsmith, Co-Founder of Stakeholder Centered Coaching