Getting there & staying there

Why would successful, capable leaders confide in a relative stranger about the professional issues they face? Does that show weakness, or strength? Senior Management Futures coaches reveal some theories but no identities.

Tony Betts:

The client: the owner of a thriving SME business on his way to an AIM listing. Long-term coaching relationship; twice-monthly sessions held for two years so far. Topics: immediate frustrations, family, finances, fortunes, future growth and five year plans. Client downloads, coach identifies pressure points before steering discussion.

Client quote: “Everyone I meet seems to have an angle … My staff and family expect me to have all the answers … customers always want something … partners and financiers have their needs to be managed … I seem to spend my life catering for other people’s needs … but the coach’s priority is my clear thinking and wellbeing. Although I end up making my own decisions, talking things through really helps me to hear my thinking ‘out loud’. I stay on track … often get new insights and perspectives. Some of my best decisions have been made during, or shortly after our sessions.”

Phil Hayes on the big promotion:

What happens, as did to a client of mine, when you are fast-tracked to a government job far bigger than any you’ve tackled before and left to sink or swim? You are under huge scrutiny, but feel there is no-one to whom you can confide your anxieties or even sort out clear priorities. The honeymoon period is going to be short. At any moment a political or humanitarian crisis could place you under extraordinary pressure at a time when you are personally at low ebb of energy . . .

This is a surprisingly common scenario in government departments. The new appointee just needs some help to hold on to confidence, focus on priorities and plan a strategy to get through that first scary 6 or 9 months. The coach is there to help do all that and keep the client connected to the fundamental resourcefulness that got them the job in the first place.

Sandra Grealy:

The range of reasons senior leaders cite in calling for coaching is not wide. It may seem a cliché that it is lonely at the top, yet this absolutely applies. They view the coaching room as a safe space to bring their anxieties, challenges and dreams of any magnitude, knowing that the coach remains detached from the outcome, will not judge, but will challenge, confront and– crucially – offer feedback.

For leaders operating in complex environments, under enormous pressure to perform and deliver, this amounts to more than a luxury, it is a liberating experience too. One senior client described our sessions as ejuvenating– and likened coaching to having ‘a spa on the inside’.

Coaches are especially challenged when dealing with proven achievers yet there are similarities in the issues that people at all levels within organisations bring to coaching. Yet it is a special privilege to be an integral part of the demanding worlds of leadership and, ultimately, to contribute to their success.

And last, a lostleader as visualised by Matt Driver:

‘Got the job three months ago. Bit of a baptism of fire really. Pulled in every direction at once: no-one really seems to know what I’m supposed to be doing and it’s hard trying to keep everyone happy.

Three of my team went for the job: bound to feel a bit raw really. So I don’t go on about it, just leave them to get over it, after all if you can’t handle a setback you shouldn’t be on the Executive. I do wonder about a couple of them though... But it’s lonely at the top. We used to go for drinks – but how can I ask them now? Still, my door’s always open and I really like it when they come in and say, “What do I do about X?” and I say “‘Do Y and Z”. Gives me a buzz, keeps my hand in – and I know they appreciate it.

Mind you life is manic. Wall-to wall meetings yesterday. Site visits the two days before that. Week before, Council meeting. Haven’t been in the office for a fortnight. Wonder how they’re all doing....

X*”@!!!, is that the time? Must fly, I’m late for the Chair’s meeting (bugger rejected my 3-year plan – but I’ll sort him!!).

Pardon? Get a coach? What’s that? Not now...’