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“Everyone needs a coach.” These are the words Bill Gates chose to open one of his TED Talks with impact. Interestingly, most high performers, especially in sports, have a coach, isn’t a CEO a high performer too? According to a Stanford University coaching survey, nearly two-thirds of CEOs do not receive external leadership advice, but almost all want it. In fact, over 60% of CEOs interviewed are embarrassed to consider coaching. This would create the perception that something is wrong with them, that they are not good enough to do the job.

Maybe that sounds familiar to you as well. Let’s comment on these results for a moment. To say it right from the start: coaching is a wonderful support for you if you are open to it.

1. Top leaders often get lonely because the number of people giving them honest feedback seems to decrease the higher they climb up the hierarchy. They often lose touch with reality and get too much entangled in their own limited views. We all know that sometimes we can be completely wrong in our judgement and most of us then appreciate an honest feedback, even if it hurts. Indeed, an external sparring partner who is not involved in your business and has a fresh perspective on things can be extremely helpful. Many important decisions discussed with a coach gain in quality and impact because you are talking to someone who has no personal stake in them. Just think about the weight of a decision like leaving or staying with the company.

2. For those of you who are really interested in self-development, a coach helps you look under the mat.Often, there you find some old and forgotten saboteurs that you are unaware of and that keep you below your potential. Some of the most popular patterns are: “I am not good enough, I am not ready for promotion yet, I am afraid of conflicts…”. In my last 13 years as a coach I had so many memorable moments with clients who faced these saboteurs and felt relieved and happy after identifying and overcoming them. The best concrete example to work on here is the fear of public speaking.

3. Our behaviors and attitudes are often caught in rigid patterns and beliefs. We cannot see the forest for the trees. We are drowned in the so-called reality of our perceptions, which is just one reality out of many. The coach shows you the mirror right in front of your face and helps you to do a reality check, to see things in a different context. Thus, we move from content to context, which is crucial, we put another pair of glasses on our nose and learn what to consciously choose between alternatives of thinking and acting.

4. In fact, it is not the need for coaching that is the problem, it is our ego that doesn’t want to accept being challenged where it hurts the most. It is true that some managers just do not want to grow personally, this is fine. I have met some “ big bosses” in Romanian companies who clearly do not want this kind of work; but it is also clear that our increasingly complex world makes it difficult to concentrate all the power and discernment in one brain alone. A mere top-down approach to leadership narrows your perspective, a coach opens it.

Finally, don’t forget that coaching is largely confidential work and you do not have to shout it from the rooftops.

Dr. Michael Schroeder

michael.schroeder@linarson.com

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