Whether a baseball player is working to improve hitting or fielding, or a gymnast is training to improve balance beam scores, both seek out an experienced coach to build their skills. The same is true for an executive who is looking to improve their leadership capability. An executive coach identifies opportunities for improvement in a leader's current role and skills required for future opportunities.

Working with an executive coach can greatly improve your leadership competency and enhance your career. Read on to learn about five important benefits of hiring a leadership coach.

Why Should You Hire an Executive Coach?

1) Learn best practices from a broad spectrum of executives and businesses

Executive coaches bring in a variety of viewpoints, since they have worked with a wide range of executives and businesses. This experience helps you and your organization become more innovative by leveraging solutions from other leaders and industries. Your coach can teach you how to foster and develop a culture of sharing and critique in your organization.

2) Receive an objective view of leadership, not biased by business or family

CEOs are the number one user of coaches, since they have no one to talk to or confide in. Executive coaches bring a fresh perspective on issues and opportunities, looking objectively at the entire executive, considering work, family, and self. The CEO's colleagues and family cannot provide objective thoughts since they are directly affected by CEO decisions both at work and in daily life, respectively.Because executive coaches are outside these spheres of influence, they provide clear and objective counsel.

3) Receive emotional support - balancing intrinsic versus extrinsic drive

Executive coaches provide a safe environment for you to vent and share raw emotions. Type A leaders get engrossed in the chase for promotion without taking stock of what really energizes them. An executive coach keeps the leader on the track of intrinsic passion for what they do, versus the chase of money or position, which inevitably does not end well. coaches teach leaders that they can have everything they want, just not all at the same time. They bring the perspective that work/life balance is actually work/life blending.

4) Reduce succession time by addressing current and future capability gaps

An executive coach identifies leadership gaps in your current role and skills necessary for you to take expanded roles. If the candidate for succession or their successor is not ready to move up, career advancement will be lost due to a lack of readiness. In actionable succession plans, there is an immediate replacement and a 2-3 year candidate. Executive coaching accelerates learning in your current role and expedites learning for future opportunities.

5) Be held accountable for improvement

An executive coach is a partner to whom you become accountable. Making a monetary investment and commitment to an outside party for behavioral changes inherently improves performance. No one wants to fail, miss their personal commitments, or disappoint their coach. The weight loss industry has found success with this model. The difference between people who lose weight on their own versus joining Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, or Nutrisystem is significant. By investing in a knowledgeable executive coach, you create a strong commitment to success.

How do you know if you're ready for executive coaching?

The decision to hire an executive coach is personal. You are making a commitment to improve. When it comes to determining if you are ready for coaching, ask yourself the following questions:

• Are you fully prepared to make a commitment to the coaching process?
• Do you have buy-in from your organization and your support network?
• Do you have the willingness and enthusiasm to be a stronger force within your organization?

There are other benefits to executive coaching. The objective outside view, coupled with diverse experiences from leaders and industries, make coaches a powerful asset to any business. It is also a strong employee benefit that sends a clear recognition message to high-performing talent. Improving leadership creates a better business.

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