Executive Coaching Provides Feedback
Even though there’s snow on the ground in Milwaukee after literally 75 degree weather a few days earlier, it’s graduation season for many families across the state. Graduation is an interesting time because on the one hand there’s completion, but on the other hand you’re only beginning your journey. Without awareness, the work that’s been done to complete your program can come crashing down without measures in place to keep that going.
One of our executive coaching clients has completed her year-long journey and will be moving from participant to alumnus. As a Fearful Doer (a person who focuses on failure and ignores successes), the focus has been to learn confidence from focussing on successes. She has crushed this concept and really is an exemplary person to model the program after. However, there’s one small issue: she doesn’t always see herself as the exception.
Every person has gifts and talents to add to the team and make it better. The primary role of the leader is to make sure everyone has what they need to be successful. This is one of my core principles. Given that, every person on the team may need something different to thrive in the particular environment. For the leader who is really good at a lot of things, this can cause team members to repeatedly fall short of expectations due to the leader not giving the team member what they need.
What to look for as the leader
For this reason, it’s important that the leader is aware of not only the groups needs, but their own needs as well. Part of our 15 Minute Management Meetings, the leader looks for various pleas for help. The person may be consistently avoiding a specific task on their list, avoiding the elephant in the room, getting low priority tasks completed or uninspired. This can be a sign of inadequate support. For the leader, they may have done said responsibility without the same support the current person is needing. This may truly be the case. But the reality is that we are all multi-gifted in different areas so our needs may be different.
If you’re currently in a leadership position, when is the last time you asked your people what they needed to be successful? Have you asked them lately to rate your level of support? This awareness can bring out the best in you and the best of your team.
Interested in finding out if executive coaching is right for you? Let’s talk! We are SPEARity, a local Milwaukee leadership coaching firm that specializes in business coaching, executive coaching, and leadership development training.
