Article originally published in Life and Style News.
The straight answer to this questions that CEO coaching is an effort to achieve better bottom-line business results.
It is critically important that a CEO coach is not just hired for a tick in the box. Why I am saying this is that CEO coach have become a status symbol in many organizations and being CEO with a coach is a great way to convey that you “have arrived”. The CEOs need to show the intent and willingness to engage coach if they want to experience the real and lasting change. Many CEOs have expressed unhesitatingly that they found their respective coaches helped them to confront challenging questions, the ones they may have avoided asking themselves left on their own.
In business world today, CEOs are not just the “faces” of companies. They are thought leaders industry starters, innovators, and pioneers in their respective fields. However, several studies have shown that two-thirds of CEOs would welcome advice and suggestions on ways they can improve business and team engagement, promote conflict resolution strengthen decision making and on similar issues. Few reasons why Executive Coaching is necessary for CEOs:
Overcome Limiting Beliefs:
We all hold some limiting beliefs. They are stuck with us even when we change and even though our personal and professional circumstances change. Growth happens. These limiting beliefs may come from our upbringing, parental pressure and expectations or the cultural norms and biases followed in the society and we may not recognize them without help.
Coaches help CEOs become aware of these limiting beliefs, accept them, and support them in taking action to overcome these beliefs. Question their assumptions and separate beliefs from facts. This clarity can be a big shift for the CEO in becoming the leader they want to be.
Remove Blind Spots:
Like limiting beliefs, we all have personal blind spots. These hold us back from genuine self-examination. The Coach’s, as a neutral third-party assessment provides an objective reality check. Coaches help CEOs notice, focus on, and fix blind spots that were not known previously. A coach is an ally, who uses specific and scientific tools to determine how the CEO can best manage the issues at hand. Blind spots may make things more comfortable, but they are also limiting, and CEOs benefit from knowing what blind spots are and addressing them in the most appropriate manner.
Learning what your personal “blind spots” are can be profoundly liberating – John Mattone.
New Learning:
In the journey to the top, every CEO undeniably accumulates own set of skills. Leading an organization to success is a different ball game altogether. An experienced coach is trained to build leaders to grow professionally and personally, with techniques on how to inspire not only his direct reportees, but the entire workforce for exceptional performance. Research has shown that by engaging a coach, individual productivity improves by an average of 86%.
Opening Doors:
Coaches often act as the sounding board for CEOs when needed for overcoming barriers, whether in their own roles, business functions, or even those faced by their teams. A coach widens CEO’s perspectives and improve decision-making. Been there, done that, makes coaches fit to provide invaluable advice devoid of any hidden agenda, conflicts of interest and more.
Benefit for all:
CEO’s calendar are generally packed for stakeholders meetings, operational reviews, fulfilling corporate obligations, managing bigger issues like innovation, technology, competition, and so on. Time scheduled for the coaching session, is considerably less pressured. The coach encourages and supports the CEO to use this time to think strategically about every aspect of business, something the CEO probably doesn’t have time for during normal working hours. Major coaching benefits are experienced in the boardroom and in key business decisions, soft skills are given equal importance by the experienced coach. Achieving key skills like inspiring the team, focusing on their strengths, and encouraging the entire workforce to work toward achieving common goals, this goes a long way in making the organization successful.
A seasoned coach can help the CEO confront tough questions and guide them on core characteristics like building community, authenticity, communicating significance and creating excitement all across the organization. The result? A more effective CEO driven by genuine purpose, and an organization that performs at maximum capacity.