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Written by Ginny Rogers
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I can’t help it. It must be just in the way that I am wired. I really get charged helping leaders.
When talking to a friend recently, I was asked how I would lead if I was in a difficult position as a leader. We were discussing the situation about the leadership ability of a leader we both knew whose leadership tendency was to lead in isolation, and this leader was experiencing difficulty at the time. My first response was that I would need to have someone along side me keeping me accountable, keeping me on track, helping me to bring out the best in my team, and to keep sight on the big picture…the really important stuff.
So often, the urgency of an immediate need, or a particular moment, gets the leader’s greatest attention. This causes the important stuff to fall out of view. Whether the leader is in their first leadership position, runs their own small business, or directs an international non-profit organization, every day in the life of a leader the urgencies of the moment attempt to gain attention from those items that have been already indicated as priorities. For me, without the assistance of an objective person who can see the rest of the big picture that I am unable to see, I would certainly fail in my role as a leader.
A concern I often hear from leaders as they consider coaching is that it will be one just another thing to add to their already overflowing plate. They resist the guidance, and the tools, that would help them to be more effective at managing what’s on their plate. What is revealed soon enough is that their resistance is based on fear–-the fear that the coaching will be another one of the ideas or concepts that they try, but just fail to follow through with.
The thing of it is that if the leader talked through this fear with the potential coach during their initial consultation, they would soon realize that the art of “following through” is an integral part of the coaching process. It is just tragic to see a leader continue to pour more and more of their own energy into doing the same thing hoping for a different result. This does not need to happen. In order to achieve a different result something has to change. The well-seasoned coach can be the objective encourager helping the leader through positive changes.
The change starts with the leader. By investing in the development of personal disciplines through the coaching relationship the leader will be more effective, have better command of their time, and will be able to multiply the capacity of themselves and their team to reach unprecedented results.
It is great to work with folks as they embark on this journey, and discover for themselves the “ah-ha” moments that can lead toward lasting legacies and make all the difference in the world!
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