why coaching

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It's no secret that leaders, regardless of the size of organization or teams they are leading, have a huge impact on the lives of the people who report into them. In fact, numerous surveys in the last decade tell us that the number one reason worker leave a job is because of how much they dislike their manager. 

Why are so many leaders creating environments that their employees want to leave? From the thousands of hours I've spent speaking with leaders I can confidently say it isn't deliberate. Most leaders I know want to make their employees happy but they simply don't know how. They often find themselves dealing with complex business and interpersonal situations that move them into unfamiliar territory and stretch them beyond their existing competencies. And when this happens, it's easy to default to behaviours that are more likely to result in negative experiences for their direct reports. 

So, what's answer? There are thousands upon thousands of article, books, training programs, Ted Talks and leadership "gurus" all proclaiming to have the answer to being a good leader. There's some great info out there but there's a big gap between reading about the 17 traits of effective leaders and making those traits a default in the day-to-day of being a leader. 

This is where coaching comes in. Once seen as a last resort for under performers and difficult-to-manage employees, coaching is now one of the most popular and effective tools in the leadership development toolkit.   Coaching is, at its core, about helping clients see challenges and opportunities in a new light and feel an expanded sense of possibilities when it comes to taking action.