The need for executive coaching is greater than ever
The crisis of the moment, Covid-19 is huge. So many organisations face uncertainty and plenty of obstacles ahead as they try to rebuild and move forward. The situation is unprecedented; there is no best practice or blueprint to help us navigate through this, but what we do know is that survival starts with great leadership.
Business leaders are being challenged to respond with urgency and do what is right to protect their people, customers and the survival of their company.
It’s not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it’s not the strongest that survives; but the one that is able to adapt and adjust best to the changing environment in which it finds itself – Darwin
The reasons for engaging with an executive coach are varied. In the past coaching was seen as remedial. If you heard the word coaching you might have thought there was a problem. Today coaching has evolved from having stigma attached to it to having status; it now demonstrates your value to the organisation as someone worth investing in. Leadership can be a lonely place. It is both a personal journey, a deeply private experience and a collective and public one that is shared and highly visible. Leaders need a safe place to think, reflect, plan, be challenged, learn and grow. Some of my clients come to me for a fixed period of time while they work towards a specific goal or through a period of difficulty, while others see the need and benefit as ongoing. After investing as little as two hours a month clients tend to notice improvements in how they feel think and deliver.
Why is the need greater than ever?
Senior leadership teams need to be at their best, operating cohesively. The single biggest strategic mistake companies could make right now is waiting for things to “return to normal”. It’s time to imagine the new world and what your business looks like in it.
People are likely to be feeling threatened and under stress
The leadership opportunity is how do you change the mindset from one where people feel stressed and threatened to one where they feel stressed and challenged enabling a move to reinvention. This is where coaching comes in. A coach can be a sparring partner to test out ideas and provide stability when you feel unclear about how to move forward. Coaching is a safe space to think, reflect and explore. To express your deepest darkest fears to someone who has unconditional positive regard for you and gives you their complete focus and attention to hear not only what you say, but the things you don’t.
In summary
No one knows for sure how long this current reality is going to last for or how the world will look when we come out the other side, but leadership can make the difference between whether you do come out the other side or not. Leadership created during this crisis will develop organisational resilience that can thrive in the face of stress and chaos. Those that are able to move from feeling threatened to challenged will be the ones that change this crisis into an opportunity, together reinventing their business for the future.
How I can help
With a Masters in executive coaching from Ashridge executive business school I have spent the last 20 years of my career dedicated to developing future leaders as well as furthering existing leadership capability within organisations. Over this time, I became a practitioner of the 7 habits of highly effective people and MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator) designing and delivering leadership programmes for all levels across multiple organisations. Having set up my business, Satori Leadership in June 2019 I now work with senior executives and Leadership teams across many sectors and industries. Please get in touch for an informal conversation to see how I can help.
