Beyond coaching– where do you go from here?

Hiring an executive coach is an investment in your professional life.?

So how do you?maximize the ROI?of one-to-one coaching?

Find closure for you and your coach

When your coaching sessions end, make the most of the time you’ve spent with your coach by reviewing and reflecting on what you’ve learned and how to move forward.??Take notes to help you in the months ahead.?

Consider what you accomplished and what makes you most proud about what you’ve learned. What challenges did you face? What new approaches or mindsets do you intend to use? What are your goals for the next few months or the year ahead? What will your support network look like?

Use the tools and skills you’ve developed

Learning?new leadership skills and habits?takes concerted effort, and a genuine desire to take responsibility for improvement. If you don’t use the new tools and skills you gained through coaching, it’s likely you’ll lose progress.?

Make a plan to evaluate your progress over time. Start by adding an item to your calendar every month or three months. Ask yourself a question like: “What have you done to build your leadership strength lately? What could you start doing?” Consider professional development workshops that could help to refresh or reinvigorate your skills.?

Keeping a journal?is one of the best ways to become a better leader. It helps you to notice patterns, clarify your thoughts, record progress and learn from your experiences.?

Take action going forward

Figuring out specific goals you want to meet is typically part of the coaching process. Ideally,?management is engaged in supporting the coaching process?and ensures that you, as the coachee, have opportunities to apply what you’re learning – as well as the tools or resources required. If your own supervisor hasn’t been involved, it’s not too late. Engage with them about the changes they’ve seen since you started working with a coach, and what they would like to see (and support) going forward.

Make time to regularly assess where you are with respect to achieving your goals. Reaffirm or reassess your goals as required, or make time to?get your goals back on track?if you’ve derailed when it’s time, set new goals to ensure that you don’t lose momentum with your personal and professional development.

Seek feedback from others

One of the many benefits of coaching is learning how to be receptive to honest feedback so you can make changes to improve. Continue to seek feedback from your boss or key stakeholders, your peers and even your team members.?

Great leaders are able to?handle criticism?and use it to inform decisions that are in the best interest of the organization.

If you’re facing an obstacle or feeling stuck, reach out to someone you trust.?

Explore programs and leadership development

Find opportunities to continue to grow and develop as a leader. Prioritize your professional development no matter how busy your day-to-day may be. Also make reading material, especially if any resources you discussed during coaching, a priority. Consider making it a habit to start your day or take a break to read something to inform or educate yourself.?

These days, live virtual courses make in-depth management and leadership training accessible and convenient. (Pro tip:?You can?access our full course catalog?and courses from other trusted partners at Odality.ca.)

Another way to grow as a leader is to?harness the power of peer learning. At Padraig, we offer two peer group programs. The Partnership is a peer group program designed for experienced leaders while The Network is for new leaders and those aspiring to leadership roles. Learn more about how?building a peer team of leaders?can boost your leadership.?

Coach’s Questions:?

What will help you to set the stage for success after one-to-one coaching? What barriers are there to prioritizing your leadership development? What steps can you take??

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This article was originally published on the Padraig blog.