What Can Leadership Coaching Do for Your Career?

I love coaching leaders! They have talents, skills and perspectives that our world desperately needs more of. Working with them as they build their confidence, trust more in who they are and make bigger impacts in their organizations is fulfilling work. Every day I am in awe of their courage and commitment.

Getting to the next level
When I started my business, over 20 years ago, leaders really didn’t know what coaching was. Today coaching is recognized as one of the most effective ways for leaders to grow to their next level of contribution and performance; especially in fast paced organizations experiencing constant change.

Now is the time of year many organizations budget for 2020. I want you to have a first-hand look at the power of leadership coaching so if coaching is a development opportunity of interest to you, you’ll have time to get a line item in your budget.​

Recently I asked a leader that I am coaching if she would write an article for this newsletter so that readers would have an inside look at what’s possible when participating in a coaching relationship as an avenue for growth and development.

She gladly agreed. The leader is Kirsty R. Boyd. She is Director of Improvement, Design and Innovation at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. The hospital is located in the Boston, Massachusetts area and is affiliated with Harvard Medical School.

Here is what she said.

​“Reflections on Coaching”
By Kirsty R. Boyd, Newton-Wellesley Hospital

At the end of 2018, I embarked on what was my first real ”career coaching” experience. For over 25 years, I have consistently sought out others that I looked up to and read avidly in order to make progress in my career and life in general, but this is the first time it has been a more ”formal” relationship.

So much more
I entered into this coaching thinking specifically about how I could be more effective in my current role and at the same time begin thinking about what my next role could be. In retrospect, this journey has been about so much more than that – I have learned so much more about myself and also about others that I work with.  

​Some of what I have learned:

• Doing something once is not a habit.
  In my case that is delegating! The constant reminders, from my coach, from my handwritten reminders and my own subconscious to remember to delegate, to say no, to speak up, to be bold. 
• Do less to do more.
  I am a do-er.  I am action-oriented, reliable, organized. I like to be one step ahead, productive and goal-focused. Doing is how I got where I am today. I struggled with doing less and wondered what that would mean for my reputation.  But now I am seeing the benefits. 

Doing less and only engaging in the right things was hard, but I am slowly but surely realizing that this is giving me more time to think and to contribute in a truly constructive way. The times that I have had the greatest success are when I have ”done” the least.

• The courage to be bold
  Through the process of appreciative inquiry and developing greater confidence in my contributions has freed me up to speak up and contribute bolder thoughts. This has opened new doors for me in a way I may never have thought possible or been too afraid of what people would think in the past.
• Better able to see my role as others see me.
  I have learned to appreciate the value of my role in the organization – the unique perspective I have and can bring to critical decisions along with the perspective that nobody else in the organization has . . . and that there is true value in that.
• Stepping out of the fire.
  I am entering conversations (or emails) by fully thinking through the implications. Allowing myself time to consider my response and what I am asking of people or being asked for has helped remove all the ad-hoc things I used to be consumed with.
• Exploring new ways to influence.
  By being bolder and allowing myself time to think vs. do, I have been able to look at so many new opportunities as a way to contribute instead of a way to purely advance my career.

There is a lot still to work on, and there always will be!

• It is still a struggle every day to remember to prioritize myself and my family over work. When push comes to shove, work somehow wins out much of the time, but hopefully only when it is critical and not the everyday.
• I still feel guilty about not being physically present for everything, but I also know that there must be a way for those things to still happen without my physical presence. As a mentor once said, “What is the worst thing that can happen?”. Most often, nothing!

I know that I can get in my own way
I have loved walking through all the activities my coach and I have done together. For the last couple of months, though, I felt like I got stuck on one key activity, the question, “What is my ideal role?” Working with a coach has been so valuable in emphasizing the value of sitting with this and knowing that the answer will emerge (hard for a do-er!).

Sure enough, I am realizing now that my ideal role isn’t written in a job description anywhere. There is no job posting out there that outlines how I will spend my days. But in many ways, that is the beauty of working toward creating the role that you love and that only you can do.

Thank you, Kirsty for your vulnerability, your openness and your willingness to share the insights of your coaching experience. You are a joy to work with! Your ability to see the big picture – and your courage to speak up – combined with the wisdom you bring to the table, are inspiring.

My hope in sharing Kirsty’s words is that they have given you some ideas for what you can do to get to your next level of leadership and that you are not alone. We need more of your perspective and voice, too.

If you’d like to know more about how leadership coaching could be helpful to you, please reach out. I’d be delighted to chat with you. 612-598-6614 or Rita@wiseleader.net

Read September Newsletter