Hiring a global leadership coach is usually a significant investment both for the company and for the employee. It is significant because it can be expensive, but also because it can bring great results. The question is always how much the employee being coach is bought into the idea. Many fail to see how hiring a global leadership coach is a sign of strength.
I won’t pretend I never thought that having a global leadership coach WAS a sign of weakness. I did. Back in the days, I was not able to connect executive coaching with success mindset. In my earlier stages of my career, I though that HR would assign executive coaches for the “trouble-kids.”
Except that the trouble kids went way far ahead of me, faster than me, and I just thought it was utterly crazy that they did. They were the “troubled kids,” right?
Let’s not get into the debate about how the company is marketing the coaching programs.
Here I want to take responsibility and share my bias (my wrong frame of mind) for even creating that narrative in my mind, that “it’s a sign of weakness to have a global executive coach.”
Needless to say, I don’t believe this bullshit anymore. It’s difficult to share a mindset shift in words, but I want to try my best here today, and share my new perspective, based on my last 2 decades of experience with corporate coaching, both as a corporate manager and now as a global leadership coach.
The Tutor, The Coach, And The Fox
When I was a kid, I always studied hard to get straight As. There was this kid in my class, 2 seats away, who never paid attention to the class, never did his homework, and would always study last minute. I did outperform him, but not for much. It really frustrated me. I thought he was so undeserving of those marks.
The kid had a tutor. Back then, for me, having a tutor was either a sign that you were stupid or a sign that you were lazy. As you can see, I had terrible judgments around kids with tutors.
Many years later, I was introduced to a tutor in a bar, and we challenged her with a simple question, often present in College Entrance Exams back then. To my surprise, not only did she share an amazing trick, but it made perfect sense based on what I already remembered from the concepts. She made me realize that many of those kids using the tutors were not stupid at all. They were pretty smart. And no, not because they were cutting corners (which I often use to say). But because they were learning more effective ways to get the same results I wanted.
I was raised to believe that we should study not to get perfect scores. We should learn so that we can apply concepts in a practical way and make our results faster and better. Scores were just a consequence.
What’s really funny is once I reached a global executive position, I made a similar mistake – or better saying – misjudgment. I thought that executive coaches were for the weak. For those who could not figure things out by themselves. So they would hire coaches to help them figure things out.
The thing is, those who did look for executive coaches to help them develop their careers, however, had better and faster results than I did. They were the smart foxes in this process.
Well, foxes have different meanings in different cultures. They can be considered a trickster in some, clever in others, and even sacred & mythical. For me, foxes represent cleverness, smartness.
It took me some time, but eventually, I learned my lesson regarding what global leadership executive coaching can do to your career. Today, I connect hiring a coach to being clever and insightful as a fox. Foxes are clever with a result in mind. Hiring a coach is being like a Fox in that sense.
Why Executive Coaching Is Meant For High-Achievers?
Luckily for me, eventually in my career, I was assigned to an executive program that included a global leadership coaching program. The program was pretty good, and the coaches were excellent. And they made me realize that there is nothing weak about those who hire this type of coach. On the contrary.
Let’s drill down on the reasons why global leadership coaching is geared toward high achievers:
Accountability: executive coaches squeeze action from you. If you are a master procrastinator, you won’t enjoy coaching but if you are a high-achiever, you’d be nicely pushed above and beyond what you think you really can do.
Effort: good executive coaches will identify your gaps and will give you assignments to help you close them. So if you are not up to rolling up your sleeves to achieve results, forget it.
Clarity: one of the best things about executive coaching is that it provides clarity on subjects, ideas, goals, and patterns. And greater clarity will drive smarter actions and decisions.
Courage: executive coaches will make you face your strengths, but also your dark side. And they will help you transform the way you see the dark. It will take courage from you to achieve that. I don’t see how weak people can ever do that.
Performance: excuse my French, you’ll cut the bullshit. Your coach will hold you accountable to perform at the level of your real potential. And they will support you in the process of getting there, if you are still NOT there just yet. It’s just that you’ll have to do the hard work. That’s definitely not for the faint of heart, who often look for enablers or cutting corners. How ready are you to implement changes that bring higher performance and real results? The coach can help you, but you’ll be the one really doing the work.
Strategy Plan: executive coaches will not rest until you have a plan, my friend. If you are big talk and no show, coaching is not for you either. Every good executive coaching program will help you clearly define next steps to accomplish your goals.
Result: executive coaching has “Results” in mind. Cutting the crap and having real measures in place to track and celebrate your progress will be required in this process. At the same time, shit happens and we sometime may feel discouraged. And that’s perfectly normal. We are all humans and we have all been there. Your coach will help get you back on your feet and pump you with good vibes to try again in new ways. You will track your progress together and review lessons learned.
Success Mindset: if you are not in the habit of having a success mindset, your coach will certainly change that. Coaches zero in on a successful mindset because this is the basis for all achievements. Who has ever heard of a successful person who was whining that they would never make it? Your coach will not make you think you can make it. Every ethical coach will help you understand what can you really do and achieve, what does it take to achieve it, create a good solid plan with you, and support you to make it happen.
Compassion: if you were born on this planet, well… I guess you were… then you shit-talk yourself sometimes. Maybe a lot. Maybe… too much. However this shows up for you, your executive coach will help you see yourself in a new light. They will create the right space for you to step back to thrust forward, with warmth and compassion. Because nobody is perfect. And everyone is perfect in their uniqueness. And that’s normal.
As you can see, executive coaching might not be for everybody. It’s only for those who really want to go the extra mile and achieve faster and greater results. And definitely, it is not a sign of weakness, not at all.
Because it takes courage, effort, and a lot of self-discipline to take executive coaching on. Being a go-getter, action-oriented, and super goal-focused are traits that many high achievers share. And since they are all needed during an executive coaching program, that’s the reason why executive coaching is perfect for high-achievers.
What Could You Need A Global Leadership Coach For, Anyways?
- For helping you get clarity about what your current gaps are and how to close them in face of a specific goal.
- For supporting you in implementing impactful ideas that require mid-to-long term execution and resilience.
- For guiding you in the creation of a strategic plan for your team’s global leadership development.
- For aiding you in transforming your team’s performance from storming to performing.
- For helping you map out your next career move that will bring you the highest fulfillment and satisfaction level.
- For helping you create a cultural map of your team for higher performance and developing you to communicate both with high and low context cultures.
- For supporting you in implementing the right personal leadership tools and metrics for satisfaction and higher performance.
- For assisting you in devising, implementing, and tracking the right strategies to improve your executive presence.
- For championing you while you are putting together and executing your 100-day plan when in a new regional or global corporate position.
- For helping you gain clarity about specific circumstances, resources, and consequences so that you can make impactful and sharp business decisions for a particular goal.
- For supporting you and your team in any change management or transformation program inside your company.
- For gaining the right skillset to develop a specific talent in your team, or prepare for a succession plan.
These are a few business applications, just to brainstorm a few ideas. Executive coaches are meant for executive leaders or individual contributors who want to go from point A to point B in the fastest, most effective, and less costly way possible. They can be a sounding board and help you look into things with a fresh set of eyes, without bias or “baggage.”
Who The Heck Should I Choose As My Global Leadership Coach?
The answer is pretty simple. Choose somebody who is able to assist you in getting the results you want. If your goal is to help your global team improve executive presence, choose someone who can help you with global leadership, not mindfulness. If you need to be more focused and present in the moment, don’t choose someone who is specialized in mergers & acquisitions transformation, get a person who has wellness, performance or mental health under their belts.
Besides affinity with your cause, I would also recommend you look for people who you “click’ with. Trust me: you’ll spend several impactful hours with this person. So it must be someone with whom you feel comfortable sharing stuff.
I once worked with a coach who was extremely knowledgeable but I did not click with because I didn’t feel any warmth from her. I don’t know, I can’t put it in words: I simple couldn’t “click” with her. And that’s ok. Just find a person you click with.
Whoever you end up hiring, together you’ll uncover some deep stuff. Most good coaches out there are trained to coach from “inside out.” If don’t resonate with this person, you will end up not opening up or going deep down enough. And then, my friend, you’re losing your money. Don’t do that.
Strategy calls are perfect for that. You can have “a taste” of how that executive coach feels like, during the strategy call. A lot of leaders roll their eyes when they see “book a free strategy call” but this is a silly mindset. Don’t you get paint samples before choosing your wall color? Don’t you get free bites in the supermarket when they are introducing a new big product? Strategy calls are free samples folks! And they alone can be very powerful, depending on who your executive coach is.
I had cases where an individual solved their issue in the strategy call and ended up hiring me for something else, after finding out what the “real issue” was. So, the power of strategy calls should not be overlooked. Don’t be like those shortsighted leaders who roll their eyes when they are offered a strategy call. Take it and enjoy it to the fullest.
Final Thoughts On Global Leadership Coaching
I hope I was able to convince you how global leadership executive coaching is meant for high-achievers and how it can help you fast-track your results. If you are a high achiever and performer, consider sharing your problem with me and having a free strategy call. We will go over your situation and define the best course of action together.
If you are interested in developing further your global leadership mindset and skillset, check out our online Global Executive Leadership Program. We go over all 4 success pillars of Global Leadership during 9 online modules, completely self-paced but that include an interactive support system to help you along the way.
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