Do you have one?
Many high powered women have a secret weapon—it is the secret to their success and a tool they could not live without. It is often held close to their vest and only shared with others when pressed to do so. This tool is known by a host of names—the executive coach, business coach, professional coach, leadership coach, management consultant and life coach, among others. Regardless of what they are called, their focus is on helping high performing professionals get to the next level. They can help you define your personal level of success, and get you there.
Years ago I moderated a panel of successful women attorney partners in San Diego. They were addressing a group of aspiring associate attorneys, offering their suggestions and relaying personal experiences that helped them reach the pinnacle of their industry. When asked which professional attributes for success were most important to them, they listed business development skills, expertise, leadership skills, internal marketing and risk taking. What they didn’t mention was that many of these skills were learned from a professional coach. Interestingly enough, it was not until the very end of the event that one of the attorneys shared that she had a business coach—and that she felt she would not have been as successful without her. This coach helped her negotiate roles and salaries, coached her on business development, charting her career and on becoming partner! More recently in a focus group that I facilitated, one of the participants shared that she had a coach, hired by her firm, to help her get to the next level. Others chimed in that they either had one, or wanted one, but all felt having a coach was essential to be successful.
Why the hesitation to share such a valuable professional tool? For years, a coach was brought in by companies as a last ditch effort to help an employee who was struggling. Today, that thought process has completely changed. High performing, high achieving employees are using coaches to help them develop key leadership skills as proactive step. We are seeing companies identify certain individuals they’d like to have coached, and employees are requesting their firms sponsor them for coaching, at all stages of their careers. In support of the value of coaching, McKinsey published a report in 2011 that showed inadequate career development was responsible for preventing women from reaching top corporate leadership positions. Middle management women are often not developing their abilities enough to qualify for that next promotion. In the interest of having more women in leadership roles, executive coaching seems like a smart tool to employ.
The Harvard Business Review article “What Can Coaches Do for You?” mentioned some key points to consider for a successful coaching relationship:
- Be highly motivated to change
- Make sure you have good chemistry with the coach
- Look for a coach that has experience coaching in a similar setting
- Look for a coach that has a clear methodology
- Check out the coach’s client list for quality
There is plenty of talk on gender issues in business and a lack of women leaders in corporate America. Rather than focus on changing the culture, let’s focus on providing high achieving women with the skills they need to reach whatever level of success they desire. It starts with the one tool shared by many of our most successful executive women—the executive coach.
Here are a few executive coaches I know and trust:
