Will coaching really help my business?

We have been using coaching as a core skill in leadership and team performance for over 20 years. Back then it was a new concept, some might have even thought of it as a fad, but it has stood the test of time. In fact it is a skill that is not only seen as essential as a leadership skill, but also a basic requirement by many when looking for a role in a company.

Will my company coach and develop me to aide my development?

As a leader you are already employing under 40’s, millennials, and as a generation they have been brought up with coaching. They have higher self esteem than any other generation, yet higher anxiety rates. They want constant feedback, and not always in a formal setting. Constant and continual development via coaching and feedback is what they crave.

Thankfully for LeaderX, those brilliant leaders between 38-46 years old, coaching is a skill that they naturally adopt because they have also been raised this way. Just as they were entering the workplace, leadership began to shift from autocratic – tell/direct, towards participative and even transformational leadership where inclusion and developing others to be their best became the norm.

LeaderX is primed to lead businesses towards high performance because they are innate coaches.

In whichever capacity we work with a client, coaching fundamentals lie at the heart of the relationship. Sometimes a client knows what they want to be different, sometimes it’s easier to share what they don’t want and through our work they find what it is they are searching for. Grounded in the contract we enter into is the essence that the client is looking for a change or have an important goal to reach.

It doesn’t matter whether we are working on a one to one, or one to many basis, we hold the clients as central to the process in achieving what they do or don’t want. It might be that they want to lead a different team, business or purpose. It maybe that they want to step up the career ladder, change direction or achieve something bigger and bolder. Perhaps they want less stress, frustration or dissatisfaction to what they are experiencing in the present. Ultimately they want a different future.

And that is what we do through our work – we help leaders and teams to create the future they want.

Coaching is a partnership of equals

We act as partners in a relationship with the client. A partner like no other, as we want the very best for them and to achieve their desired future. No other person is as invested in their success as their coach. It’s an alliance between the coach and the client, an agreement to both lean in to achieve the results that coachee desires.

Working with Leaders and their teams we are grounded in the fundamental questions:

• Who are you?
• What do you want?
• Who are you being in this relationship?
• What are you creating?
• What are you actively doing or not doing that lead to action or inaction?

Our 5-step method focuses on all of the essential elements when leading a business and asks all of the fundamental questions at each step.

At each step we ask those same questions and the answers are transformative. Before we can reach the truth, we create a safe space grounded in trust and acknowledging the present.

Where are you now?

It’s remarkable how often we lie to ourselves or paint a picture of a different reality. Data is powerful in gaining impartial perspectives and we will use this where possible, using 360 feedback, behavioural profiling or employee engagement score. Yet even with the data, many leaders habitually move into defend and deflect mode. They justify the data and feel the need to explain via the back story, even blaming people or circumstances. Yet to a coach, context is important, but acceptance and acknowledgement of the present state is even more important.

How can you get to where you want to be if you don’t know where you are now?

As we move through the steps, clients gain total clarity over what they want and where they are heading, both personally, professionally and as a team. Only coaching can shifts perspectives and dance from the present to the future with ease.

So to answer the question, will coaching really lead to better business performance – yes – with a great coaching, a willingness to lean into the partnership and a safe space in which to get curious.