Why Coaching?
A million years ago (i.e. pre-pandemic), folks told me that my direct and candid advice was much like a coach. Curious about this, I enrolled in George Mason’s Coaching for Executive Leadership program. I put in the work and eventually became certified by ICF (the International Coach Federation). It was there that I learned the “official” way of coaching based on academic research, best practices, etc. I’ve enjoyed coaching and try to incorporate what I’ve learned into my everyday life and role as a CEO. At some point in my career, I tell myself I’ll have more time to devote to the practice of coaching and plan on pursuing it further.
But my coaching isn’t for everyone and, in truth, it’s probably not exactly as the ICF would like. I’m a big believer in action. And some people don’t want to take action to move forward; slowed down by “analysis paralysis” at times or striving towards the perfect solution. I’m convinced that we’re all making it up as we go along, and it is better to make some decision and move ahead in most cases rather than continue to analyze it. We roll out with the best decision that we can make, and we adjust as we must. And part of being in leadership is acknowledging when we’ve screwed it up or made a bad decision. Essentially, you’ve got to own your decisions. Own your shit.
Coaching, when the participant is open to it, can help enable that forward movement. Coaching builds new skills and habits that pave the way through the roadblocks that people may not even realize are there. We all come into the professional environment with our own baggage. We have our own PTSD based on previous bosses, jobs that we hated, internal dynamics that we didn’t enjoy, etc. We also bring our positive experiences as well. The key is to take the good, proactively navigate the bad, and figure out the path ahead. Having a good coach can help you navigate this balance. It can help executives become unstuck, take action, move, and enable a team to work together through challenges.
I can suggest two different types of coaching. First, executive coaching for your C-Suite. This is exactly what you think it is, done on a 1:1 basis, helpful in getting to decisive action, a great sounding board for CEOs to have, and has been well documented. Most top-level, successful executives have had a coach at different times.
Second, there is leadership coaching for your team. Not targeted for the C-Suites, but the folks that you are trying to develop into the top-tier management team. Ideal for the diamonds in the rough that you want to invest in. Ideal for those that you want to keep committed to your organization and that are important to your company’s future. This investment is how you level up your team for your 3- and 5-year plans. It’s not immediate, it is an investment of time and money, and it doesn’t always result in the right successors. BUT….it helps build an organization for long-term growth. It builds a stronger team that meets those pie-in-the-sky goals that CEOs have.
If you are interested in discussing how coaching might help your organization, please ping me. Happy to share my experience and talk through where it might work for you.
About BOOST’s CEO, Stephanie Alexander
Stephanie Alexander has spent more decades than she wants to admit supporting high growth government contractors with an eye towards their bottom line. She is the CEO and founder of BOOST LLC which supports back-office functions for government contractors. She is a co-founder and Partner at govmates, a free teaming platform and technology scouting tool to connect business across the federal landscape.
