The Secret to Making 2016 YOUR Year

I’ve always found it useful to have a coach. One who can offer perspectives on my work and life challenges and point out whatever unexamined assumptions, limiting beliefs, or blind spots might be getting in the way of my performance. 

When I was running my own startup I had a coach I spoke to every week. As CEO I was regularly confronting the gap between what I knew and what was required to run a company. My coach provided me with important feedback on my ideas and the areas I needed to improve on to be a successful CEO. No matter how difficult the job was at times, I always felt I had a partner I could count on.  

Whether you’re an executive, manager, or individual contributor you may be wondering whether you should hire a coach. Here are 4 good reasons why you should:

You simply want to be more effective in your job. You’ve encountered some barriers to producing the results that need to be produced. You know that a coach can help you to overcome whatever obstacles are in your way of being more successful.   

You’ve had a less than stellar performance review or have been told you need to improve in certain areas. The pressure is on. Your job—or at least your career advancement—depends on your being able to significantly improve your performance.

You’ve been rewarded with a new job or new accountability, but you recognize that what you know is insufficient for what lies ahead. 

You’re already successful at your job, but... you recognize there’s another level of excellence you want to attain and you’ve set a goal for yourself that requires a “leadership makeover” to achieve! You’re playing for the gold.

Of the many CEOs and senior executives I’ve worked with over the last 30 years, the most successful have been the ones most coachable and most open to feedback. Their commitment to learn and grow separates them from the pack. They don’t hide behind what they already know. In fact, they understand that what they already know is often an impediment to exploring new possibilities and opportunities, which a coach can help them to do.

This is a good time of year to evaluate your performance and determine whether or not you can use a coach in 2016. You can start by getting clear about the results you want to produce in the next year. If you decide to move forward with a coach, you may want to experiment with a 3-month contract—to be renewed if you’re satisfied with your progress. 

Just remember: a coach can make all the difference when it comes to changing your reasonable performance to extraordinary performance. 

—Ilene Fischer, Partner, Mark Kamin and Associates