We don’t really know what we think until we hear ourselves speak. However, the higher we are in the organizational structure, the fewer people we can tell everything to. This is the reason why great leaders have coaches or mentors. Among them are Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Larry Page, Michael Dell and Eric Schmidt. No matter how successful or competitive you are, achieving is actually a team sport. And the higher you move up in the organizational hierarchy, the fewer people you have from whom you can get honest feedback or an objective look. Research shows that approx. 50% of companies use external coaches and that over 50% of directors have or have had a coach. Many studies also show that the average return on investment in coaching is 600%.
The areas in which managerial coaching helps include:
- Preparing for a higher position or more responsibility
- Development of leadership skills
- Strategic planning and vision creation
- Understanding organizational dynamics and cultural issues
- Effectiveness of communication in the management board
- Efficient navigation of the team dynamics
- Improving interpersonal relationships
- Coping with stress and work-life balance
The benefits of coaching for managers include:
- Better relationships with colleagues
- Greater ability to think critically
- Greater self-confidence
- More effective collaboration
- Presenting your ideas more effectively
- Innovation and effective change
- Improving communication
- Better time management
- Better work-life balance
- Higher stress resilience.