The Challenges Facing Senior Leaders

As a senior leader in the complex organisations of today, challenges abound and often feel as if they are coming from every direction. The expectation – implicit – or otherwise, is that one should have the inherent capability to respond quickly, decisively, fairly, with integrity, strategically, in the best interest of the organisation and the individuals affected – and the list goes on. The pressure can be intense and can, at times, feel overwhelming for almost everyone.

Giving yourself a safe place where you have a designated amount of time to take a step back and reflect, gain perspective, and work through an issue is a vital part of keeping at the top of your game. Executive coaching can offer you that place.

How Coaching Has Evolved

Coaching has significantly evolved over the last 15 -20 years. Previously, it was a step or intervention to help ‘fix’ an issue with someone that was underperforming or needed to leave the organisation. Asking for support was seen as a weakness, a sign that you couldn’t do it alone. Thankfully, there is a much more enlightened view today in which most executive coaching is focused on supporting those leaders with the highest potential to reach their top levels of performance. Organisations committed to their leaders development and wellbeing recognise the value of coaching as a component of creating success – for the individual and for the organisation as a whole.

The Benefits of Executive Coaching

At its most effective, executive coaching offers a safe and confidential environment to openly explore any issues or challenges executives face in a way that allows them the time and space for reflection and determination of what is needed for on-going success. This can be particularly valuable for senior leaders relatively new in their roles, as there are often many variables to assimilate whilst adjusting to a new role - including multiple stakeholders, requirements for change, and operational imperatives.

For leaders in more established roles, it can often become quite a lonely place and again, a safe environment to work through the complexity and inherent ambiguities of organisational leadership is often useful. Working with an executive coach that understands organisations and has been in senior roles themselves will give an added richness and dimension to the coaching.

It’s All About Fit

A good fit and synergy between the coaching client and the coach is vital, as well as a true desire on the client’s part to actively participate in coaching. It is rarely as successful when an individual seeks coaching simply because it has been a request of their governing board, CE or manager.

And again, in the most effective coaching relationships, there is recognition by both the executive and coach that individuals are the composite of their professional and personal lives and these areas cannot be separated in coaching, making the chemistry and fit between the two all the more important.