There are so many reasons for professionals of all levels to seek support from an executive coach. One of the most popular reasons that we hear from our clients is that they know of someone who has seen great success from working with a coach and they want the same results.
Other reasons we hear include having too many priorities at one time, being pulled into uncharted territory, or simply wanting to grow and develop further as a professional.
Whatever your reason for considering hiring an executive coach for yourself or for your team, I’d suggest your work through these three questions before taking the leap.
There are so many reasons for professionals of all levels to seek support from an executive coach. One of the most popular reasons that we hear from our clients is that they know of someone who has seen great success from working with a coach and they want the same results.
Other reasons we hear include having too many priorities at one time, being pulled into uncharted territory, or simply wanting to grow and develop further as a professional.
Whatever your reason for considering hiring an executive coach for yourself or for your team, I’d suggest your work through these three questions before taking the leap.
Download our Coaching Reflection Worksheet here:
Commitment to Professional Development and Growth
Before working with an executive coach, you may not be exactly sure what development opportunities you need to work on. In fact, that may be exactly why you’re considering working with a coach. What you should be sure about, however, is why you want to work with a coach.
What outcomes are you hoping to achieve? If, and when, you and the coach start to see improvements, how will that affect your career trajectory and even your long-term and short-term personal goals?
You need to understand your why first. Your why is going to be the reason you want to succeed. It will be your driving force behind wanting to grow and improve.
Once you have a clearly defined why and you’re ready to focus on the things that you can control, then you’re ready to go to the next step.
Be Ready to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone
Now that you have defined your “why” behind your career growth objectives, the next step is to make sure you’re ready to take on the pain that comes along with those ambitions.
We have a saying here at Benchmark that applies to our clients, and certainly applies to our coaches, “You either set your comfort zone around your goals, or set your goals around your comfort zone.”
It’s important to know before you begin that working on your blind spots with a coach can be painful.
On the Brightside, you’ll find out later that once you’ve come to accept that blind spots are a natural part of any professional (or personal) growth, you’ll feel empowered to seek out blind spots and even have others help you identify them—but we’re not there yet.
Is Professional Coaching What I Need?
Once you’ve had a chance to address the two topics above, reflect on everything you’ve noted when reading this article and ask yourself if the voids you want to fill are from professional blind-spots and behavioral growth opportunities, or from mental-health and stress challenges that you need to address.
While professional coaches can have a tremendously positive affect on one’s career, coaches are not psychotherapists and cannot take the place of one.
In fact, in many cases of professionals in need of psychotherapy, they can work on both in order to address their professional growth as well as their personal mental-health wellness, so there’s no reason to down-play or delay the need to seek professional psychiatric support. Now the time has come for you to decide if you’re ready to take your career to the next level by working with an executive coach. Once you feel you’re ready, your next step is to select the best coach for your needs and get started.
How Can Benchmark Training Help You Succeed?
Benchmark Training helps professionals build a culture of profitability through people development.
From executive leadership development, to frontline team members, when everyone communicates effectively, both internally and externally, professionals create a competitive advantage that is difficult for their competitors to imitate.
