Ready to Take Your Career to the Next Level? Here’s Why Executive Coaching is a Must-Have Tool

Most executives believe they understand themselves and can perceive themselves accurately.

Over the years, they have used feedback from their superiors and teams, impressions of their own personalities, and cataloging of their own successes and failures to develop a certain degree of self-awareness. 

But no one can see themselves accurately. In fact, we don’t see ourselves as clearly as we might think we do, argues business writer Erika Andersen. Indeed, everyone is driven by their own ego to some degree, so they may not be fully capable of identifying their shortcomings – or, on the flip side, identifying their own unique skills and abilities.

Alex Rood describes how working with a professional coach helped him spot biases in his self-concept that may have been holding him back. 

“With objective perspectives, a coach can observe the things we say without the bias that we may hold or that those close to us may hold. What a coach sees can help us expand on our own limited perspectives and help us ask questions of ourselves that we may otherwise have never considered asking. In turn, the answers we come up with expand our self-awareness,” he says. 

Executives are even more likely than other professionals to lose sight of their weaknesses – and even their strengths. When you’re just starting out in your career, you always have supervisors assessing how you’re succeeding and what needs improvement. As you climb the corporate ladder, however, you have fewer professionals above you who feel confident in giving the feedback necessary for growth. 

That’s where executive coaching comes in. Here, we’ll talk about how executive coaching can take your career to the next level. 

 

✅ Executive coaching gives you a more accurate sense of yourself.

We need an outside perspective to determine our strengths and weaknesses; this is even more valuable if that information can come from a neutral party like an executive coach. 

When you start out, your coach will gather information about how you see yourself and how others see you and then categorize that information into themes. Then, once they get to know you, they’ll share their ideas about how you’re viewed by others, as well as give you the tools to perceive yourself more accurately too. 

“Most importantly, if your coach is effective, he or she will help you build skills to see yourself more clearly: to question your assumptions about yourself, get curious about where you’re strong and where you need to grow, and learn to see yourself with ‘fair witness’ eyes,” said Andersen.

 

✅ Executive coaching helps you bring your values and goals into alignment.

As you’re trying to advance your career, you may struggle to connect what you believe in with your goals.

Or perhaps you aren’t sure what your values are or how to identify them. 

Executive coaches can help you both figure out what matters most to you and how to prioritize those objectives in your career. When you start working with a coach, they will help you pinpoint what values you use in world view and professional life. 

“These values may have been intentionally cultivated or absorbed completely unconsciously over time. Regardless, they are vital for understanding the way our actions and responses have impacted our past and current ways of thinking,” said Rood. 

Next, the coach will help you devise a goal that matches the vision you see for yourself and your life.

This part of the process usually takes trial and error, but a strong coach can lead you in the right direction toward the career you envision for yourself. 

 

✅ Executive coaching helps you build empathy.

An executive coach not only helps you see yourself more clearly but also encourages you to view others with more empathy.

Ryan Bonnici of executiv+co cites a Harvard study that said that many upper managers lack empathy. Since being able to put yourself in your team member’s shoes is part of being a strong leader, an executive coach will help you develop your empathy and understanding. 

“Empathy is a powerful tonic that soothes the soul of the receiver. Empathy leads to understanding other people’s emotions, and enhanced interactions with business colleagues and subordinates follow,” Bonnici says.

 

✅ Executive coaching teaches you leadership skills you never learned.

An executive coach is so valuable because they are leaders themselves.

So, they don’t only identify what you might be overlooking in your habits and goals, but they can also give you advice about the skills you need to develop. 

“Executive coaches are well-versed in these leadership skills because most of them have years of successful leadership under their belts. Skills like making decisive decisions on the spot, communicating productively, motivating others, extinguishing problematic situations, knowing how to take risks, or efficiently juggling your day-to-day tasks with your leadership tasks,” said Bryan Rosenthal of CoCaptain.

 

How Executive Coaching Can Take Your Career to the Next Level

 

It’s important to rely on other people to determine where you’re excelling and where you’re falling short.

By the time you become an executive, though, you likely have a smaller and smaller pool of professionals in your workplace who can give you this kind of information. Instead, consider how executive coaching can take your career to the next level. 

When you have an executive coach who can give you honest, unbiased advice about the steps to take next in your professional life, you’re that much more likely to be able to find an efficient pathway forward.

Consider connecting with Ivy Exec’s Coaching Services today.