As Andrew MacAskill, one of LinkedIn’s change makers and highly successful career coaches highlights, there are some particular skills that are in high demand. These are:
- Agility
- Distributed team leadership
- Cutting through complexity
- Talent attraction and nurturing
- Decision making.
These skills have always been a key part of a successful leader’s and business owner’s toolkit. Their importance is being highlighted and recognised as essential even more so now, as we live in a world that sees daily and hourly change, uncertainty and flux.
- Are you looking to become a better leader and parent/carer?
- Are you looking for clarity, balance and direction?
- Are you looking to reset your work/life balance by building your resilience and boost your confidence?
But how can you find the time and space to refocus and reset, when you find yourself in a place of constant firefighting, back-to-back zoom calls and reacting to curve balls? The first step is to make the decision you want it to be different.
You might relate to the, ‘9 reasons why leaders are hiring executive coaches’ at the moment as published recently, by Forbes.com. Forbes’s research reflects the conversations and concerns from clients, especially working parents and predominately women.
The article states these 9 reasons for the uptake and surge in career and executive coaching. Do any of these ring true for you?
- “I feel tired.”
- “I am overwhelmed by the ever-growing number of expectations from me.”
- “I am told I have become ‘difficult’ to work with.”
- “I wish to reflect about my career next steps.”
- “I need to ramble and make some sense with an independent thinking partner, straight-shooting and challenging.”
- “I must adjust my strategy, but I am unclear about opportunities and threats.”
- “I want to create a compelling and sustainable culture of excellence.”
- “I want to gain influence within our highly political ‘matrix,’ particularly with our global functions.”
- “I am uncomfortable about announcing our drastic restructuring plan to my staff.”
Coaching provides a judgement free space and time to explore your thinking, talk through what is really on your mind and re-energise you to focus on your next step.
Being a business owner and leader can be a lonely place. Coaching provides a place to talk through your thoughts and where you want to be.
Often leaders and business owners need a confidential space to explore thoughts and show their vulnerability. This isn’t always possible to talk through with colleagues or yourself, if you’re a solopreneur!
Give yourself permission to prioritise you and invest in yourself to build your resilience. With time and space, you can put in place the foundations to re-energise your skills, mindset and business.
The Forbes article gives a great overview of what executive and career coaching can achieve and how you could feel as a consequence!
Executive coaching supports you to build strategies for your wellbeing. As Marian, a leader in a national charity going through significant change explains,
“Throughout a very challenging period, I had a safe space with Bex that enabled and encouraged me to really focus on what was important for me in a leadership role […] I was able to reconnect with my own values, purpose and not get lost within the multiple narratives that emerge when organisations face challenges.”
Marian, Leader
