Coaching: is now the perfect moment to take that first step?
Exploring the world of coaching, a key to personal and professional growth.
👋 Ciao, Alex here. Welcome to a new free edition of Not Just Bits, and thank you to all the readers and those who support my work. Every week, my goal is to share lightweight and informative resources for CTOs.
Today, we will be talking about coaching and the remarkable impact it has on your career. There’s nobody better suited for the job than Stephan. With over 25 years of experience as a technical manager and executive, he’s been at the forefront of the tech industry. He’s here to tell us how coaching can be a game changer. So let's jump into it and discover how you can change your career too.
The Importance of Career Coaching for Startup Managers
Coaching is the super-weapon of a startup. Unless a startup begins with experienced founders and executives, there is an experience gap between what the company needs and the experience level of the managers.
What does coaching look like?
From my experience coaching CEOs and CTOs, we have an hourly session every second week. Topics range from prioritizing work, delegating work, setting up performance systems, growing organisations with middle management or holding employees accountable. Besides the coaching session, I review pitch decks, culture
documents, org charts, job ads and strategies. In a crisis, e.g. the fcc company gets hacked or a key employee leaves, I'm always just a telephone call away.
Coaching speeds up personal growth of all managers and reduces execution risks. Having coaching while you competitors have not gives you the edge for successful growth. A coach derisks company growth while at the same time speeds up growth.
A coach can help experienced and inexperienced managers to grow faster and fulfill
their role at every stage.
While coaching can be done by people managers, there is always stuff people will only open up to people who have no influence over their work relationship—e.g., can't fire them.
Why would a manager choose a coach?
There are plenty of reasons.
In general a coach speeds up your development and makes your life as a manager much easier.
One can discuss things with their manager, their peers or their direct reports.
But there is always stuff left that a manager feels they can't discuss with
anyone. Here comes the coach. As someone outside the work relationships,
they can listen to everything and give opinions, advice and help.
Coaches also give an external opinion. While internal knowledge and capabilities are great, there is always the risk of being blind to facts or fall into groupthink. A coach with a wide range of experience can bring external view points and judgments on decisions. You can bounce ideas with your coach before you execute them, before you get your management team on board. The coach helps you prioritize ideas and execute those with the biggest impact from their experience.
A coach is someone who can push you to new capabilities and move you out of your comfort zone. The job is demanding and day-to-day operations keep the managers from thinking about their career and growth. It's easier to just pull through.
A coach keeps you on track thinking about your career and growth and pushes you out of your comfort zone.
A coach gives you relevant knowledge faster than you could acquire it by learning and experience.
A manger's job has tough decisions and pressure. A coach is someone to call and who just listens. A coach can be a pillar of support in the stormy sea of startup life.
Coaches and mentors are the secret weapon to startup success.
I hope Stephan has given you a better understanding of the importance of coaching and how it can provide support in different challenging situations.
Now, you might be wondering how to find the right coaches?
1. Clarify Objectives:
Take a moment and figure out your goals and needs before starting this journey. What do you want to achieve with coaching? Is it personal growth, advancing in your career, or developing specific skills? You need to understand why first before you find someone who can help. Doing this will also help you identify what type of coach and expertise you need.
2. Research Potential Coaches
Once you know what you’re aiming for, then it’s time to get messy. Start doing research on potential coaches that meet your needs. Look for ones that have a track record of success and experience within your area of interest. Check reviews and case studies, see if they’re effective or not. In addition, consider their method style and how they approach things. This should be aligned with how you learn best and your personality.
3. Interviews
Finally, once everything is checked off start conducting interviews with the coaches on your radar. The conversations should center around their coaching process, prior achievements, and how they plan to push you towards your goals. Also keep an eye out for chemistry between you and the coach. It’s important that you can build a strong bond and feel comfortable with the person in charge of molding you into a better version of yourself. Choose a coach who will allow for open communication and trust.
Finding your coach may not be easy but I hope this article helps you decide if now is the right moment. Growing personally and professionally isn't a walk in the park, but you can make it easier by setting clear goals, doing your research and finding a coach you connect with.
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See you next week! Best, Alex Di Mango