Executive Coaching has become increasingly common within companies to help executives and high potential employees improve performance. Specifically, we have found that executive coaching for non-profit leaders adds value, impact and revenue.
Coaching also helps the leader ‘find themselves’ as a leader, which results in a greater peace of mind and usually time back.
Still, I have come to understand the term “Executive Coaching” or generally the term “Coaching” has many different meanings for people. I want to take the opportunity to share what we have learned about how to make coaching most valuable for executive leaders and what they can expect.
Our team of coaches and how we work:
We are very fortunate at HIGOL to have skilled coaches to work with our clients. We engage with CEOs and Executive Directors in one-on-one coaching engagements, where coaching is the limit of the scope of our work. This is often an excellent way to begin to work with us.
It gives HIGOL an opportunity to get to know the organization much better from the leader’s perspective. This kind of engagement reliably brings value to the organization. Why?
The critical role of the CEO or Executive Director:
We find the CEO or Executive Director is in the position of most leverage within the non-profit organization. No other team member, board member or donor has the potential to so dramatically affect an organization than the CEO (for better and for worse!)
If we can help the CEO or Executive Director grow their leadership capacity by 10%, the organization grows by 100%!
Coaching is incorporated into all broader organizational development engagements.
So, as a client of HIGOL, what is reasonable to expect from executive coaching for non-profit leaders?
Let’s start off with what not to expect:
- Career Coaching – We will not be strategizing with you about how to move up in the company, find another job or career. There are people who do this kind of work really well. This is not our jam. 🙂
- Simply a valve to release steam. This does happen in our engagements, as leaders share things with us in a confidential setting they often share with no one else. This can bring an intial sense of relief. If, however, this is your primary goal with coaching, and you don’t want to actually change anything, we are not a good fit for you.
- To become personal friends. On a very rare occasion this will happen, but for coaching to work best, we want to have an objective relationship with you. Once our objectivity is lost, our value to you is also lost. Although we genuinely love our clients, it is tricky to be friends with clients on a social level for many reasons, so we avoid it.
What can you expect?
- We will help you develop or refine a future vision that is holistic, relevant, and powerful, making your organization more attractive to potential employees, funders and board members. It may be a short or long term vision depending on where you are organizationally. We always start with creating the results you desire upfront. This will lead all of our work together. It provides the GPS.
- Up your game as a leader – over time you will think more broadly and be able to anticipate challenges and address them much more quickly. You will also begin to see opportunities faster. We will help you develop effective strategies for both.
- Support in putting structures, habits and routines in place that will give you time back and enable you to enjoy your work more, take care of your own needs, stop putting out fires and liberate your staff to do their best work.
- Support in having the ‘hard conversations’, when necessary, with team members, board members and partners.
- To have your existing way of thinking challenged in the kindest way possible, ever seeking to broaden your horizons for the benefit of the organization. If you are at A and want to get to B – your thinking will have to change. Otherwise, you would already be there!
Forbes published Six Ways An Executive Coach Can Make you More Successful, by an executive coach! I like these six ways executive coaching helps. We see these things happen as well.
Blending Leadership and Business Development:
Finally…
Expect we will work a in a way that integrates and builds both your leadership capacity and business skills. In the real world, they always appear together, so we don’t artificially disconnect them in the executive coaching process. Our coaches’ deep experience in both leadership and business discipline make this possible.
Lastly, enjoy the ride. Most clients are deeply grateful for the results, which most often include both increased revenue and community impact achieved in way that their organization becomes more sustainable over time. You get your life back. There is less stress, more peace of mind and joy.
Want to learn more? Please reach out. We’re happy to explore how Executive Coaching might benefit you as a leader of a non-profit or other mission driven organization.
