Why Coaching?

How Coaching Can Help You Become a Better Leader

Summary

•Coaching is powerful because it helps people connect with themselves on a deeper level, allowing them to access more resources to make enlightened decisions.

• Coaching works because it helps people outside of their own head disrupt harmful thinking patterns by reflecting thoughts back and prompting questions.

• Reflective statements and questions help people think about what they are saying and prompt them to see a new way forward.

Intro

As a leader, you are constantly faced with decisions that have the potential to make or break your company. With so much at stake, it’s important to have a process in place that will help you make the best possible decisions for your business. That’s where coaching comes in.

Coaching is powerful because it helps people connect with themselves on a deeper level, allowing them to access more resources to make enlightened decisions. Additionally, coaching works because it helps people outside of their own head disrupt harmful thinking patterns by reflecting thoughts back and prompting questions.

Here’s a closer look at how reflective statements and questions can help you think about what you are saying and prompt you to see a new way forward

Coach Yourself with these questions while you journal

1. What do you mean by that?

2. What would be another way of looking at this?

3. What are you assuming in this situation?

4. How could you test that assumption?

5. What would be the consequences of taking this action?

6. Are there any other options you haven’t considered?

7. How will this decision align with your values?

8. What is the evidence for and against this course of action?

9. What are the risks and rewards associated with this decision?

10. What is the impact of this decision on those around you?

Challenge

Did you use these questions? Probably not. The human brain is wired for safety and comfort. People with high IQs need the most help with their thinking. Smart people are profound rationalizers and guard their perceptions with sophisticated mechanisms to be right. And they often are – until they are not!

The best solutions are always just over the horizon in life and business. We need to venture beyond what we already know. However, our brains resist this journey when left alone.

When you go to the gym by yourself, with no workout plan or trainer, you’re most likely to challenge yourself less. This looks like longer breaks between sets, more time scrolling on your phone, inattention to technique and just putting in less effort. The same thing happens in our brains.

A thinking partner needs to guide the mental pathway so leaders can truly reflect on themselves and their world with a thinking partner – a coach.

Conclusion

As a leader, it’s important to have a process in place that will help you make the best possible decisions for your business. Coaching is a powerful tool that can help you connect with yourself on a deeper level, access more resources, and make more informed decisions. By reflecting thoughts back and prompting questions, coaching can also help you outside of your own head disrupt harmful thinking patterns. If you’re looking for a way to become a better leader, coaching is definitely worth considering.