As a leader, you have the option to work U.S your business, proactively shape the future of your organization; Y, ON your business, reactively Handling the daily workload. How you do this is influenced by the qualities of your personality, your temperament, what you value, as well as your abilities. How do these elements lead you in the right or wrong direction? What results do and can trigger these elements? Do you want to know or do you prefer not to know?
Making the decision to increase self-awareness takes courage, as does doing something different as a result of exploring feedback. What is the alternative? Knowingly or unknowingly putting your head in the sand, which is a great way to get stuck and leave things to chance. Here’s a classic example of leaving things to chance, rotting, for decades:
Research for Nursing Times magazine suggested that there was an NHS attitude of discouraging staff from reporting problems and this was putting patients at risk. The research showed that many nurses fear being labeled as troublemakers, being marginalized and excluded by senior staff if they highlight their concerns, being intimidated and marginalized by their colleagues, and end up feeling ashamed and guilty, as well as worried about the end of their careers. There were many interesting statistics from this report, too many to list here.
Leadership needs attention otherwise, weeds will appear. The weeds of an organization appear in its culture. Sometimes these weeds can be time consuming and expensive to treat, requiring radical interventions as in the above scenario.
Executive coaching is the number one way to proactively build positive work habits and prevent performance, career and culture derailments. To help you get the most out of executive coaching, here are my top 7 high-value tips:
How to Get the Most Out of Your Executive Coaching Experience
1. Keep in mind that coaching is not a remedy. It’s about improving performance. Think Andy Murray, the 2013 Wimbledon Champion. He has a lot of coaches and mentors because it’s all about developing the performance required to achieve the desired career and business goal. An open mind goes a long way, a commitment to investing in your performance and career, and a commitment to applying learning and actions will help you get the most value out of your coaching experience.
2. Research shows that the more power someone gains, the more likely their empathy is to decline. Therefore, they have to work to rebuild that empathy. Unfortunately, someone with a lot of power and little empathy may see rebuilding empathy as bland. This makes it harder to bring the softer elements of leadership (the traits that involve others) to the table. If that sounds familiar, I encourage you to realize that people-related skills, such as relationship building, are not wavering. Participation skills build a sustainable leadership career and business. Numerous global and national surveys confirm the need for participation, for example, The Sunday Times Top 100 Employers. Hard and soft leadership traits must be in reasonable balance to create a positively productive culture.
3. Realize that you have to know yourself before you meet someone else. Otherwise, you could be seeing and valuing (or not) the other person through their lens. Understanding others allows you to question and consider their approach, communicate better with them, and motivate them. Not understanding them can create discord and conflict.
4. Get a coach to take you beyond the skill requirements of the surface level. These are usually urgent, but they often fall short of the superficial requirements that are really important (your personality qualities, your temperament, what you value, etc.). These types of conversations need a transparent dialogue, it is more productive for you. To reassure you, you can expect confidentiality unless you are planning to do something illegal.
5. Keep in mind that increased self-awareness is the result of coaching, so expect that. Psychometric tests (profiling) are the ideal way to increase self-awareness. These tests go under the surface to what turns you on the most. There are many profiling tools on the market, from popular culture products to science-based products. Some will be more meaningful to you than others and the ones you choose should be related to your situation and requirements. Full-circle feedback, also known as 360-degree feedback, is very helpful in understanding how you are perceived by others. These tend to be great for skill development and open the door to a deeper and more meaningful training experience.
6. You shape your business and your career. It is worth getting an executive coach who will support you 100% and also challenge you 100%. It is the only way to unleash your potential. Most coaches host a “chemistry” meeting, which is ideal as you have a chance to find out if you can work well together. However, keep in mind that you don’t have to go through with a coach to be effective. Some of my most effective coaches have been very direct, but that has moved me forward.
7. Last but not least, don’t become dependent on your coach. Coaching is about setting someone up for success, allowing them to flourish, and not being a crutch.
So are you currently working? ON leadership (reacting out of habit) or working U.S leadership (increasing self-awareness and modifying behavior where appropriate)? Your leadership shape shapes the culture of your organization. How you work is up to you.