Beata Staszkow — July 17, 2017 — July 17, 2017
KristopherK / Pixabay
CEOs are generally under enormous pressure to produce. Shareholders among others are demanding, and as such many CEOs are pushed every hour of every day. There is little time for reflection or taking stock, and keeping track of how the organisation moves and the direction it is moving is challenging.
As such, more and more CEOs are finding coaches an invaluable part of the machine. Whether they are engineering time to give the CEO pause for thought, acting as a voice of reason or conscience, or simply giving honest feedback to how they handled certain situations, coaches are there behind the scenes helping CEOs perform better.
Often businesses will now appoint a coach as the bottom line improvements have caught the eye. As a by product of coaching, often CEOs feel they have improved as a person. If you’re in a position of en masse responsibility, read this post and discover three ways coaches can help you.
Feedback
Getting feedback on decisions is never easy for your average CEO. The truth is there is simply nobody above you, so nobody can point out what you’re doing wrong and right. If you have a good management team they will provide feedback, but remember they give you advice with one eye on promotion.
Enter the coach; no need to worry about hearing what you want to hear as promotion is not an option. Instead, you receive sound feedback about your decisions and how you handled situations. Often this leads to discussion on what is the best way forward, and how similar circumstances will be handled “next time.”
Many coaches are ex-CEOs themselves. They can emphasise and understand the complexities of the circumstances and sometimes recounting experiences they have had, can help you make better decisions.
Time
It is all too easy to have a schedule that is constant and relentless. Throw in pressing situations that demand immediate attention and days are long and nights are short. Unless your Doctor Who there is little you can do about time. There is 24 hours in a day, and 7 days in a week. There never seems to be enough of it.
Enter the coach; they come in and discuss your schedule, repositioning it so that at some point you will get a few hours in a week where you pause for thought. This allows you to reflect on past decisions, occurrences, and what is in the pipeline. You can take stock of where the organisation is and where it needs to be. Sometimes decisions have to be made on a feeling and not data alone. These extra hours will give you the thinking time needed to do that.
Reconnect with Staff and the Organisation
Isolation is an issue CEOs often face. They are in a unique position and often it can be lonely and friendless. They can easily turn into a hated figure for a range of reasons. In these situations it is easy for the CEO to lose perspective on what his senior management and other team members are facing.
The coach can give that additional perspective. This perspective helps the organisation to run smoother, and gives a more cohesive spirit. If you consider that culture is set top – down you can see the benefits here can be far reaching.
Coaching and the CEO
CEO coaching is not a one-off or a fad. It is becoming more in demand as the benefits are seen on the all-important bottom line. It enhances your leadership and makes you a better CEO, one that can and often inspires. It goes without saying that a better performance from you will cement a solid influential reputation in your industry.
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