I’m not ready to commit to coaching. This is an actual message I got from a follower on YouTube. I hadn’t offered coaching specifically to this person so I was a little surprised to get the message. Looking back on their reach out, I’m translating it. I know a leadership coach could transform the way I lead myself and influence people around me. I want to be crystal clear on where I’m going before I do that. If I’m going to make a 6 month commitment to developing myself, I want to be certain I make the most of it. (We can totally talk about this face to face too, click here to get the YouTube version instead.)
The decision to invest in a leadership coach is a significant one. It requires a commitment to personal and professional growth and a willingness to delve deep into your leadership style and approach. So, if you’re saying those words to yourself, I’m not ready for coaching. I agree, and, it sounds like you want to be. So let’s get you ready. That way, when you do invest in the personalized development that a leadership coach can offer, you’ll get the biggest trasformation yet. This article outlines three key steps you can take today to prepare yourself for a successful coaching experience, maximizing your investment and setting a strong foundation for lasting leadership transformation.
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How can I get ready for leadership coaching today?
1. Understand yourself.
Learning more about yourself will help you lean into your talents so that you can develop those talents into strengths. There are lots of complex ways to do this. Some of which we get into in coaching. In the mean time though, you can make a big impact by keeping it simple. You can determine your dominant leadership attribute in less than 5 minutes. Taking the leadership attribute quiz helps you identify which attribute you naturally fall into, how it’s serving you, and what blind spots it might reveal.
Understanding your dominant attribute is like understanding the lens you see the world through. It is different from your style because to be successful, your style will need to change with time and situations. Your attributes though, those don’t shift so understanding them helps you understand yourself to a deeper level. Knowing that you’re an achievement focused leader for example helps you validate your focus on smashing your KPI benchmarks. Your drive isn’t something to shy away from, it’s how you see success. Knowing that also helps you reflect on how much you’ve been pushing the team to decide when to hit the gas and when to pump the break.
2. Develop self awareness.
Coaching relies on your ability to share what you’re going through and being open to making changes. A leadership coach will help you uncover your blind spots and bridge the gaps. Right now, you can start developing your self awareness by simply noticing what is working well for you and what isn’t. Are people listening to you in team meetings or talking over you? Is your boss taking your ideas, or dismissing them? What about your confidence? Do you tackle projects and problems with authority or are you timid? Important note here, do not should on yourself for this. You are doing important work simply by being more aware. We can work on changing the behavior and improving your results in coaching but as a prep, just become aware.
Often when people start tuning in to what is working they are tempted to look back on why they do what they do. Why does Jim interrupting me trigger me while Molly doing the same thing feels like collaboration? Coaching can go deep but it looks forward, not back. To go deep into your awareness while looking forward you need to reflect back on your future. (No Marty McFly involved.)
If you want to understand how what you do now impacts where you want to be, take the Aligned Ambitions Masterclass. This 1 hr workshop style masterclass will help you determine what you want life to look like and feel like over your whole life. It will help you develop the snap shot of your golden years of life and every frame of the movie that led you there. You get to build your goals in a way that supports the direction you want to go. Really go deep into your self awareness? Get to know not only who you are but who you are becoming.
Start reading.
There is a whole library of great books on leadership and some of my favorites are curated for you here. I won’t tell you where to start, mostly because, similarly to being more self aware, I just want you to get into it. Choose books that speak to the strengths and talents you have. Choose books that speak to gaps you want to bridge. If you’re not currently making consistent deposits into your brain, digging into any book on leading will move the needle. That’s because reading gives you long form context that you have to work through. To get the dopamine you get from scrolling from book you have to work through the material, consider it, apply it, and decide what is relevant.
However, don’t let indecision cause inaction. So, even though there isn’t a ‘right’ book to start with, if you’re stuck, I recommend How to Win Friends and Influence People. It is tried and true, originally written almost 100 years ago. It is also a little more passive. If you’re new to personal and professional development you can simply digest it, let it wash over you, and absorb all of the examples. If you’re a little more advanced in your development journey, I suggest High Performance Habits. This will take your passive learning to active steps. You’ll go from oh isn’t it interesting that people get more interested in you when you focus on them to deciding who needs you at your best in this meeting and how can I show up for them. When you start actively implementing what you’re learning you retain up to 95% of what you’ve learned.
What will this do for me?
This work will be foundational when you move into coaching or even mentoring. You’ll use the clear sense of your talents and natural tendencies to build skills on. You will have awareness of your habits to make you more coachable and less defensive in your blind spots. You’ll already have developed a new habit of investing in yourself regularly by reading and digesting useful content. If you do decide to work with me, we build very intentionally on these very skills you’re building now to create leadership and influence that is tailor-made for you.
You could start these habits today and be ready to work with a coach in a matter of weeks. Being ready to start coaching in February means that you could be enjoying the 4th of July fireworks without ever checking your phone for that last minute email like you the last time you took a couple days off. You could enjoy the holiday with a confidence and carefree attitude you haven’t had since you were a kid, all because you invested in yourself now.
If you got this far and are questioning if maybe you’re beyond this list, you might be ready. You might need to be courageous in believing that you have what it takes to lead and influence in a life you love. You just need the support to get you there. If you want to talk through what coaching could do specifically for your delegation, communication, and ability to inspire change and action at all levels, let’s talk. You can schedule any time that works for you right here.