by Gary Jaffer

Sometimes I get a blank look when I suggest to an executive that they might consider using a coach. It is rarely expressed, but the thought bubble is extremely clear; “I don’t need any help, and what are you going to tell me?”

A good coach won’t tell you a thing! What they will do is provide a forum to draw out what you instinctively know. I could bang on about this for a long time, instead here are 9 good reasons why every senior executive should hire a coach:

1. 100% you time – most senior business people rarely get a chance to just sit and talk about themselves, their challenges, their successes, their fears, their family, their personal goals, their business goals – whatever! A coach provides a 100% “you” forum – it really is all about you.

2. Clarity – here’s an opportunity to bring some clear space around your thinking. Whether it be around new goals, existing strategies or simply blue sky stuff, it doesn’t really matter. Just imagine having the opportunity to really clarify your thoughts, without judgment or unnecessary provisions clouding the process.

3. Planning – a coach has no vested interest in your achievements (apart from the fact they will want you to successfully achieve whatever it is you set out to do) and so their great value is their objectivity. Imagine having a completely objective sounding board, asking questions and providing some direction to the plans to reach your objectives.

4. Bring about change – many business people bring in a consultant to bring about specific change. A coach can provide the same momentum to accelerate change in your organization, or life, by working with you ensuring that there is a strong hand on the tiller without the process being hijacked or losing direction.

5. Productivity – the key here is that a coach will help you become more results driven and this will naturally lead to better organization, more efficiency and hence more effective in a lot more of what you do on a daily basis. Each meeting with a coach will invariably have specific outcomes to be accomplished before the next meeting and the natural outcome from this is productivity.

6. Empowerment – at times our emotions can get the better of us and we can find ourselves riding the emotional rollercoaster. A coach can help build emotional strength – Goleman called it Emotional Intelligence in his famous book and EI can be defined as the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions and the sharpening of this ability empowers the individual.

7. Focus – A bit like clarity but once clarity is achieved then focus is required to work on the right things in the right order. The objectivity of a coach comes into play again and a coach can provide direction for your focus to as to achieve the outcomes required.

8. Support – the old adage that it is lonely at the top is so true. So often the support systems for leaders is light on as best or non-existent. The lack of peer support can create a sense of isolation. Sometimes you just feel that you need to sound off or bounce something around with someone to get some perspective and all too often there is no one!

9. Balance – all work and no play makes Jill a dull girl just as much as it makes Jack a dull boy! Burnout is a result of insufficient or inadequate recovery time. We see it happen with athletes. Our 24/7 office, all on, all the time, is making it increasingly difficult to have some switch off time. A good coach will have an eye on your lifestyle and ensure sufficient time is being allocated to recovery.

This is by no means an exhaustive list but they are good reasons any business leader might consider a coach. On the other hand if you feel you are achieving everything you want, have all the support you need, have a good set of plans in place and are focused and on track with your well defined goals, are getting enough time out and not bothered by emotional responses then a coach may not be for you.