Executive Coaching and Women in Leadership

Women leaders are the superheroes. Executive coaching is the cape that helps them fly.

By Jason Abell

For the last 10 years we’ve been coaching men and woman and we find that while women in leadership roles face many of the same challenges as men, they tend to handle these challenges differently. A solid coach can make all the difference in helping women navigate those challenges in ways that honor the specific strengths they bring to the table, and who they are as leaders.

Consultant vs Coach

A consultant works by giving answers or by providing a program to solve specific problems. They’re there to tell you what to do and how to do it. One challenge with consultants, and even mentors, is that no one really ever wants advice. Even if we ask for it, we usually accept advice only if it aligns with what we already want to do. If the advice doesn't align, we think, "Well, they just don’t get it."

An executive coach, on the other hand, is someone who is in partnership with you to achieve what you want to achieve. They walk alongside you, asking powerful questions designed to spark insights and draw out your wisdom. Coaches work with the belief that you have your own answers that are right for you; they just help you find them and act on them. Good coaching helps you see things you hadn’t been able to see on your own and helps you extend beyond the boundaries of your existing thought patterns.

Challenges Women Face

Everyone has their own brand of struggles, and women face many challenges as leaders. One common challenge for women leaders is that of balance and integrating career success with other aspects of their life. ? ?in both the office and at home, and this?often includes caretaking or "office housework,” such as cleaning up after a meeting or ordering dinner.

Women are also more likely to recognize, for example, their co-worker is going through something hard at home. Women will often work extra to make it easier on that co-worker, thus sacrificing their own balance. This additional emotional labor often leads them to run themselves ragged. A great coach can help women overcome this by first helping them recognize it, and then by identifying key goals around self-care, such as getting X more hours of sleep each night or building healthy boundaries around personal time.?

Another challenge women often face is the “get stuff done myself mentality.” While it is a great concept, the GSDM mentality is not scalable. As a leader, being able to delegate is more important than doing everything yourself. Leadership means enabling others and giving them an opportunity to carry a share of the load. Things still get done, but a more stabilized balance is achieved in the process. When balance is achieved, you’re able to bring your “best self” to the table thereby producing more positive and sustainable results, in addition to giving others the opportunity to develop their skills and grow in their work.

Foundational Beliefs

Foundational beliefs are what you believe that cause you to act in a certain way, ultimately impacting results. Most people are not aware of the foundational beliefs they hold. A coach has a trained ear to help you identify which foundational beliefs are limiting you. Awareness is a critical step in overcoming these beliefs.

For example, if you believe you aren't good enough in some area, you tend to relay that message through your actions. Once you’re aware of the belief, you can shift your?mindset?to turn those negatives into positives, rebuilding those foundational beliefs to focus on your strengths instead.

Executive Presence

An executive coach for women will help to build your “executive presence” – what you bring to the table during casual meetings and difficult confrontations. It encompasses everything from how you dress to how you speak. It's in your walk and your demeanor. It's the level of confidence and self-assurance you have when you present an idea or speak to a group of colleagues. It's the thing that people see when they read between the lines when paying attention to you. It is also a key element in how others view your leadership and a coach can help you make the most of it.

Leadership Can Be Lonely

Leadership is lonely and for women who are in leadership roles it can be even more so. This is because, statistically, there still aren't as many women executives as there are men. Leaders need someone to talk with and confide in who will challenge their way of thinking without offering unwanted, and in many cases, unnecessary advice.

An executive coach will travel the journey with you and ask powerful questions to stimulate your creativity and raise your motivation. The right questions will help you find the answers you need without going outside yourself to do so.

If you are a woman in an executive or leadership role, you are stronger than you may realize. A great coach will help you recognize and build on your strengths, learn to work around your weaknesses, and expand your leadership abilities overall, helping you become the leader you want to be.

When you’re ready to learn more about how a coach can help you achieve the results you are looking for, schedule a discovery with Jason on our team here: https://meetings.hubspot.com/jason242?