Leaders in every sector and industry are taking advantage of one of the best ways to elevate their game. Coaching is a game changer. Today’s modern leaders face a unique set of day-to-day challenges that can be overwhelming. Whether you sit in the C-Suite or middle management, your experiences, needs, and opportunities are specific to your lived experience and that of your organization. Having a coach/thought partner/trusted advisor to explore new ideas, vent challenges and concerns, seek impact and clarity, and unlock your potential can make a difference.
What is the Difference Between Coaching, Consulting and Therapy?
Coaching is a partnership between the client and coach designed to help leaders achieve personal and professional goals. It’s a co-created space where organizational, leadership, or personal potential can be explored. Coaches believe that clients are equipped to solve for themselves, and coaches challenge leaders to make conscious decisions for their personal and organizational benefit.
Consulting focuses on the problem to be solved and brings expertise into the problem-solving space offering effective processes or procedures to resolve the problem.
Therapy is concerned about a person’s well-being and functioning across a range of settings, with a focus on healing pain and resolving conflict for individuals and groups.
Reasons to Hire a Coach
There are many reasons to hire a coach. Perhaps you’re transitioning into or out of a leadership role. A coach can provide a brave space to navigate founder’s syndrome or build a succession strategy.
As an established leader, you seek a space to bounce ideas, clarify concerns, and develop leader-as-coach skills.
You desire to up-level your game and/or your organization for greater impact. Or you’re dealing with burn-out, prioritizing work, setting boundaries or delegating.
You or your organization have recently experienced leadership transition and you need a trusted advisor to help stabilize you, your team, your Board of Directors, and your organization.
You’re stuck or stagnant and seek a thought partner to reflect, learn and create actionable strategies for achieving specific goals.
You seek guidance on embracing the responsibility of a leadership position, communicating, and aligning vision, strengthening the management team, elevating the board relationships and performance, developing talent, or building self-confidence.
Attributes of a Great Coach
The coach:
- Resonates with you
- Motivates to accomplish your goals
- Is compassionate
- Can hold neutral space without judgment
- Looks at your thinking or patterns and offers insight
- Has a sense of humor
- Can be a “Ted Lasso” inspiration
- Is strategic and is curious about what YOUR success looks like
- Knows what you’re trying to achieve
- Meets you where you’re at
- Understands the importance of a provocative question
- Is authentic and shows up as his/her full self
- Demonstrates deep listening
- Establishes trust
I’m on a mission to cultivate and empower the change-makers in the world. As a certified Executive and Leadership Coach and nonprofit consultant, I’ve helped organizations grow leaders at all levels, raise millions of dollars, and create greater community impact through Board trainings and organizational development. If you’re looking for a coach, let’s chat.
Resources:
Coaching and Philanthropy: An Action Guide for Coaches (2010)
Joan Garrey Nonprofits are Messy Podcast Episode 182: Why Every Nonprofit Leader Needs a Coach
Chronical of Philanthropy: HAAS Fund