Aim Higher: leadership coaching—the basics
If you want to go from being a good leader to a great one, you need to take leadership coaching seriously. I’ve encountered some high-level executives who think that because they’ve risen to the position on the org chart that’s their career goal, that means that they’re “done” developing.
Nope. You’re just getting started. Because if you don’t want to be a victim of the Peter Principle, you need to understand that leaders who think about their career as a title rather than a commitment are doomed to failure. Or, at best, mediocrity.
As you move up in an organization, you’ll have fewer people “above” you who can provide advice, guidance, and training. It’s just math—entry level positions have all kinds of folks who can judge their performance. At the top? It’s just you. That is, until you get a great leadership coach.
Janet Walls is just such a person. She’s President of Delta Blvd, a leadership consulting and executive coaching company. On this edition of “Aim Higher,” Janet joins me and some of our regular panelists to discuss why leadership coaching is so important, who should be getting coached, how it can help you, and the differences between coaching and mentoring.
There was so much great back-and-forth at this session, and so many good takeaways, that we’ve split this discussion into two parts. Think of this first podcast as the basics of leadership coaching. In the second half, we’ll get into more advanced topics, such as coaching for entire leadership teams, the need for multiple coaches, and how to know when it’s time to move on from a particular coach.
If you’ve made continuous learning and improvement key parts of your leadership journey—and I sure hope you have—I strongly encourage you to give a listen.
Listen to the episode by clicking here.
Image Credit: Drew Beamer
