It’s lonely at the top

Earlier this year an article in the Sunday Times Appointments Section examined coaching from the perspective of both coach and coachee and demonstrated that it can be of greatest benefit to those who are performing well, like top sportsmen and women.

Jez Cartwright, an executive coach interviewed for the article, states: "With a few more executive coaches, there would be fewer people quitting, getting the sack or jumping out of windows.  It’s lonely at the top – who else can these people talk to?"

One of his clients describes the benefits both personally and for his business, a recruitment consultancy: "We’ve just sold Witan Jardine to Australia’s Ambition Group, which means we can now offer people work across three continents. Last year we were one of The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For. This year we were awarded the Financial News Award for Excellence.  And for the last three years our profits have gone up 30% a year.

"After Jez has been coaching people in the company for three months – and these are already high performers – their performance has increased in some cases by 50%.’" An impressive result!

A summary of types of coaching was provided, compiled by Gladeana McMahon, executive coach and vice-president of the Association for Coaching.

She describes executive coaching as mostly organised and paid for by the employer and divided into 3 general areas:

- Coaching for excellence: This is aimed at people who are already high performers. The aim is to make what’s good even better.

- Team coaching: This involves working with groups rather than individuals – for example, working with a department or a board of directors to build better team relationships, increase performance or improve communications.

- Performance recovery coaching: This is designed to bring someone up to an expected level – for example, after a promotion – or to bring someone back up to expectations where performance had declined.

Coaching is a powerful way of improving business performance for anyone. Often external coaching is provided for new recruits and those in leadership positions. Many organisations are now investing in training their own internal coaches to enable people at all levels to experience the benefits of coaching.  Coaching makes good business sense.


Business challenges - and how to solve them

These days one thing we can rely on is that we don’t know what is around the corner. 

Whether it’s the impact of the credit crunch, a takeover or merger, cost cutting or expansion into new business areas, these changes bring uncertainty and we wonder what the impact will be for our business and for us personally.

In our busy, busy lives, boundaries become blurred. Between work and home for example, with the internet and access from anywhere to our work emails, mobile phones and blackberries - unless you have a strategy in place for managing them effectively.

At work we face new challenges to keep up with the competition, deliver new products or services or the same ones in different, more cost effective ways.  Perhaps we need to resolve conflict or use influence and persuasion to get things done, rather than ‘command and control’, which may feel more comfortable with.

For leaders in today’s organisations, whose responsibility it is to show the way, facing these or other challenges can feel a daunting experience and a lonely place to be.

What is available to enable you to stay on top of the business challenges you are facing?  Loved ones, friends and colleagues offer advice – their stuff, not yours, and not always what you want, though it may be interesting to hear what they have to say.

Many organisations are introducing coaching for their leaders to enable them to resolve challenges and enhance their performance. Coaching is results focussed – it gives you space and time to be listened to, to explore issues in depth and to be challenged and asked powerful questions which create new thinking, options and clarity of purpose. 

The philosophy behind coaching is that you have the answer; you just need the means to access it, which coaching provides. One professional body, the International Coach Federation, states: ‘as a result of coaching clients set better goals, take more action, make better decisions and more fully use their natural strengths’.  

What challenges are you currently facing? And how are you seeking to resolve them? What is not resolving them costing you and your business?

Get yourself a mentor

Want to get ahead in your career?  Then get a mentor – someone who’s been there, done that and got the t-shirt to prove it. Identify someone in your target job and ask him or her if s/he will be your mentor.

How does mentoring work?

You meet with your chosen person on a regular basis – say, once a month. Agree with him/her at the outset what you want from the arrangement, the frequency and location of your meeting.  It is helpful to set yourself some goals for the duration of the mentoring, so that you and the mentor have something to focus on when you meet, rather than general chitchat.

What’s in it for the mentor?

Usually people are very willing to answer your questions and offer you advice if you ask for it. Leaders get a buzz from being asked and also seeing the people they have mentored progressing into more challenging roles. Your mentor may even find an opportunity for you to join his/her team if you demonstrate the skills and attitudes they are seeking.

What’s in it for you?

By talking through challenges you are facing or have experienced, you can learn from the experience of someone who is already in the job you want. You are developing a relationship with a senior person who could be your champion when opportunities come up, provided they have gained a good opinion of you during the mentoring relationship. The more allies you have at a senior level, the better it will be for you and your career.