How To Find An Executive Coach That’s A Great Match For You

How To Find An Executive Coach That’s A Great Match For You | Where does your journey on trust and awareness begin? | Donald Stevens | Olorin Coaching

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“Each experience in your life was absolutely necessary in order to have gotten you to the next place, and the next place, up to this very moment.”

— Wayne W Dyer

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Opportunity

Before working with a coach, look for a certified professional that provides an initial free offering to help determine fit. Where I’ve experienced the best results is with offerings that consist of both self-directed work and an appointment.  There has to be energetic alchemy for a successful coaching engagement to become an adventure.  Executive or leadership coaching is by no means a norm for corporate leaders, much less considered necessary. The engagement is a partnership, one in which you and your coach can work together to embark on a Quest to reach an agreed-upon goal.  

Intention

There has to be a foundation of mutual respect and trust from which a great coaching engagement can thrive.  Coaches serve many purposes, but the most value comes from exploring blind spots, identifying growth opportunities and using coaching tools like 360 assessments. Consider a professional bold enough to voice observations that others around you may shrink away from.  Remind yourself that seeking help doesn’t mean you aren’t amazing and being amazing doesn’t mean you don’t need help.  When looking for a great coach, I’d invite you to reflect on these questions before beginning your search:

1. How will you practice commitment?

Are you prepared to commit to undertaking hard, introspective work?  When working with you, a coach can influence the pace of your adventure, however, you’ll lead the engagement by consistently taking ownership for direction and progress.  Start by trying to achieve some specific results and be open to exploring what behaviors are needed to get them.

2. How will you take responsibility?

When working with you, a coach will become an invaluable member of your adventuring party.  As you quest, however, you’ll be responsible for your learning and development.  Unlike a therapist, coaching does not pursue healing. When self-limiting beliefs interfere in your learning and development, the coach helps you identify that blocking energy and plot a path to disengage it.

3. How will you invest time in your adventure?

When working with a coach, you’ll learn something about yourself with each offering, however, behavioral change demonstrating Fire Forged Leadership takes time.  Senior leaders, like all adults, struggle to change fundamental behaviors and styles that have worked for them and have become comfortable over the course of many years.  Your coaching engagement is a process, not a sprint. 

Realization

What, then, should you do if you think you want to change and, like so many of your peers, put your faith (and financial commitment) in a coach? Is it possible to develop an authentic commitment to coaching through sheer willpower alone? No. But what you can do is develop a mindset — i.e. new “automatic” cognitive messages — that will help you counter your own resistance to change.

Since you won’t change unless you really want to, and nothing — not the highest-priced coach or public declarations about your intention to change — will help you to succeed, it’s in your best interests to learn how to thwart your worst tendencies in advance of tackling change.  If you accept this fact of life, coaching — and every other change process you initiate — will become surprisingly simple.  Which is why, the need for coaching doesn’t have anything to do with your current level of material success, teaching or advice, but does have everything to do with the value of empowering your inner champion to actively live at choice.

Before providing your credit card for payment with any certified coaching professional ensure you’ve answered the intention questions, your coach is certified and has a free offering assisting you to determine fit as part of your coaching engagement. Here’s the ancient text you’ve discovered in finding a great executive or leadership coach - your adventure begins with deep introspection on what you want to be known for and why, how much self-directed work you’re willing to do, how open you are to change and your level of commitment to explore what more looks like for you.

Mastery

In my own coaching practice, for example, clients are invited to determine fit with a free offering, explore influencers impacting their unique success formula and set goals to sustain business outcomes with teams while testing and learning how to live at choice.  You have the opportunity every day to show up as the leader you choose, virtually and in-person, aligned with your values.  Awareness, Acceptance and Alignment are keys to leading and living differently while achieving real results in the face of constant change. Look to choose a coach who will help you unleash your Secret Fire.

Partnership

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