Why a Leadership Coach Really Matters

As I reflect on my leadership journey, I’ve come to understand that working with an executive coach made me a more effective leader. It helped me navigate the ups and downs of my work in a fast moving and growing environment. I only wish I’d found that type of help earlier. I had the naive thought it was only for people in very large organizations. Or maybe for a certain type of leader I didn’t see myself as. Someone more interested in the business talk than my servant-leadership approach.

“The false dichotomy persists that leaders can either invest in training and coaching specifically developed to increase performance, revenue, and growth, or they can invest in culture initiatives and coaching that result in more courageous, connected, and collaborative human beings.” - Brene Brown

I’ve just finished Brene Brown’s latest book “Strong Ground: The Lessons of Daring Leadership, the Tenacity of Paradox and the Wisdom of the Human Spirit” and I can feel it was written for exactly the moment we all find ourselves in. What stood out to me most very early in the book was how openly she talks about needing a coach herself. It’s important and the catalyst for reflecting on the importance of having a coach in my career.

Leaders need a coach. They need guidance. They need perspective from outside the bubble of their organization to get real, honest feedback. Throughout the book, Brene Brown frequently talks about her executive coach and her personal fitness trainer pushing for growth. Borrowing her analogies, you’d think it’s crazy if an athlete didn’t have a trainer. Why do us business leaders not feel we need a coach? A coach helps push you out of your comfort zone into meaningful leadership growth.

The tech industry currently finds leaders navigating deeply inhuman moments with layoffs and the fear (and reality) of AI tools and changes to all of our roles. This pressure to keep our humanity, keep the business moving forward, and support our teams requires external perspective to face these challenges..

As a leader, navigating these challenges is daunting on your own. Even with the support of your leadership team, peers and mentors in your organization, these challenges can’t be overcome alone. We tend to promote great individual contributors into leadership positions but we fail to give the tools to help them navigate this entirely different role. A developer needs a laptop. They need access to documentation. Training on platforms. What do we give leaders for their new role beyond a salary bump and a fancy title? Leadership identified the potential. The organization has a responsibility to provide guidance and set expectations. However, the business can’t stop while a new leader acquires the skills necessary to lead the team. This can have devastating downstream effects to the business and ROI. A bad manager is costly. We’ve all seen the stats that people predominantly leave teams due to bad managers. Their engagement and productivity plummets and they hurt the overall morale of a team. 

Let me share a few mistakes I’ve made on my journey. I mistook the great leaders, founders and direct managers as my career coaches. I’ve been extremely fortunate in my career to have so many great examples of good people working alongside and leading me. I have zero complaints about the wonderful people that have been part of my leadership circle for 20 years. They did great. They helped me in countless ways and I’m so grateful to how far above and beyond many people have gone for me.

But I put the burden of coaching me on them. They are focused on the business, their departments and their strategic goals. That focus on the business is exactly that; focused on the business. Areas that need to be addressed will be aligned to business objectives but won’t always be personalized enough for a growing leader.

My lesson in all this is that I should have gotten a coach earlier. As I got promoted into leadership roles across multiple organizations, I mistook my innate abilities and the vote of confidence from leadership as enough to move forward. I’d have elevated myself and those around me more if I’d gotten coaching help earlier.

My second lesson in getting a coach was that it gave me clarity to move forward on initiatives, ideas and execution faster. I am great at identifying problems and finding a solve. That’s not enough. To grow, you need outside perspective and people that have done it before to close your gaps. If you’re only vetting ideas with your team, they naturally look for the path of least resistance for themselves. They may have fear from prior experiences that challenging a manager's ideas could have career consequences for them. At the end of the day, you end up preaching to the choir. You need someone pushing you beyond your own bias, preconceived ideas and personal roadblocks. You risk getting stuck in your bubble.

My third lesson is coaching gives you an outlet to focus your energies and ideas. We’ve all unloaded on a trusted member of our team or our spouses after a long day. It might feel good but it’s not productive. It’s another gap that gets filled by people that didn’t sign up for it. A coach has personally helped me overcome a lot of feelings of imposter syndrome and better understand my role as a leader on teams. You can’t always see your value without someone shining a light on the good and your opportunities for improvement from the outside.

A coach ends up being an honest partner and an outlet to help guide you towards a productive outcome rather than being a shoulder to cry on. You have a space to share your thoughts, your vulnerabilities and your ideas and figure out how to work through it. With a coach, you work towards a productive outcome. Be careful here though, they are not your therapist and it’s an important boundary to understand early. Coaching is for your career, your leadership journey and your business goals.

If you’re skimming,

1. Get a business/career/executive coach for perspective you won’t get from your team. If Brene Brown has one, you need one.
2. Get one now. Don’t make my mistake of waiting for an exact need.
3. Leverage it to further your career and focus those energies in a productive place. Don’t bring it home.

If this lands with you and you’d like to start a conversation with me, reach out and let me know what you've got going on. If I’m a match for you, I’d love to help. Even if I’m not, I have connections across the Denver area and the industry across many roles so I’m sure I could put you in touch with someone that is the right fit for you.