Trending
Written by: Jackie Kindal
My wish for all leaders is that they have the benefit of working with a certified professional coach.
My personal experience with an executive coach changed my life. That is a powerful statement, I know. But it is sincere. I am truly overjoyed by the impact that partnering with an executive coach had on my life.
Before I continue I must give a disclaimer: I am also a certified professional coach. That is not, however, why I am such a believer in coaching. Please allow me to share my own personal story about the impact coaching had on my life. I will also highlight a few coaching success stories about executives and organizations around the world.
For years, I dreamed of becoming an organization development consultant. I wanted to work with organizations and leaders in a highly impactful way that super served their growth and development needs. My desire to start my own business was strong.
Despite my conviction, passion and sense of purpose, it was years before I took the leap.
Whenever I found myself close to doing so, I talked myself out of it by telling myself that I needed more knowledge, more experience, more certifications and degrees, more time in my current position, and so on and so on and so on. I stalled for more than 15 years. I enjoyed my career and the organizations I worked for, that was not the issue. I climbed the corporate ladder and loved the people who I was fortunate to work with. But it just was not enough.
It wasn’t until I obtained my professional coaching certificate that I realized I too needed a coach to help ME get unstuck. With the support of my fantastic coach, I successfully moved fear out of the way. I was then able to see my blind spots, get very clear on my goals, implement a plan and eventually succeed in reaching my goal – starting my own business. I will admit it was a process that did not happen overnight. But it was well worth it.
After 27 years in corporate America, I am now running my own coaching and consulting practice. It’s been up and running for 16 months and I am elated. The alignment of my passion/purpose and my work exceeds my wildest imagination. And I truly owe this to my executive coaching experience.
Many other leaders around the world have experienced significant improvements in their life and work performance by partnering with a certified professional coach. The International Coach Federation (ICF) has this to say about coaching:
“For many it’s a life changing experience that dramatically improves their outlook on work and life while improving their leadership skills. It helps people tap into unknown potential unlocking sources of creativity and productiveness. ICF defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential even in the face of growing complexity and uncertainty which is common in many workplaces today that are struggling with the war for talent.”
Research shows that when organizations provide coaching to their leaders, the organizations achieve positive business results such as increased employee retention, highly collaborative and creative teams, improved productivity, and attainment of peak performance. Over time, leaders become more effective at building high performing teams and organizations that thrive. Coaching recipients have reported increased job satisfaction, improved relationships, higher goal attainment, and improved personal satisfaction, to name a few.
According to the ICF, Genentech created a coaching culture in their IT department and experienced a 50% increase in communication, collaboration and conflict management. The IT department also went from being regarded as the worst department in the company to the No. 2 Best Place to Work in ComputerWorld Magazine.
In another example, Roche-Turkey, a subsidiary of a global pharmaceutical company, implemented professional coaching in response to a low company rating from an outside firm. They trained high-potential leaders to become internal coaches and then provided coaching to 45 high-potential employees who could use either internal or external coaches. Within 2 years, Roche-Turkey went from being evaluated as having “lackluster” employee engagement levels to being rated as a “high performing company” with an 11% increase in employee engagement levels. They also saw a 22% increase in the employee talent pool, higher levels of trust and improved communications because of coaching.
In a third example, a large public sector employer of 14,000 employees uses trained coaches. The research found that coaching increased confidence levels, performance and productivity. The study also concluded that organizations and managers are well served when they create a strong coaching culture.
These are just a few examples of the effectiveness of professional and executive coaching. The success stories are rapidly increasing as organizations continue to integrate coaching into the organizational culture.
Coaching is a remarkable journey for those willing to put in the work. If you are looking to unlock your potential, I encourage you to partner with a coach.