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You’re doing well in your career. You’re dedicated, skilled, technically competent, a recognized leader in your company and a valued employee. Your performance reviews are excellent, and your manager has complete confidence in your abilities. So why would you want (or need) an executive coach?
This is a good question to consider, so I offer some insights here that apply generally and also specifically to IT execs who want to flourish in their careers. First, in a recent article in The New Yorker magazine, a renowned surgeon talked about getting a specialized surgeon’s coach who could give him feedback on how he performed in the surgical suite. Although his outcomes were good, his reputation was impeccable and his interpersonal skills were excellent, he felt he was too comfortable, and wondered how he really did in all aspects of his work life and how he could improve. Knowing that he could not be objective about his own behavior, the surgeon decided that an outside set of eyes and ears would provide a mirror to his actual behavior. He wanted to improve, so he hired a coach.
Also consider this: In their book, Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler write about how changes in medicine, technology or finance will not work effectively without the appropriate behavioral change in the user. You can give out millions of mosquito nets to prevent malaria, but if people do not use them, they are useless. Vaccines prevent illnesses as long as people get vaccinated. The authors call this phenomenon "bio-social science" and think that in the 21st century, it is key to changing behavior.
How does this related to IT executives? It’s often said that people with technical training put less emphasis on interpersonal skills. But behavioral change requires a change in how we perceive the world and a trusted way to learn the new behaviors. Having a coach to reflect and build on what you do well is part of how extremely successful people stay at that uppermost level. They can assess your skills and work on nuanced behavior may result in better outcomes for you and your business team.
If we become complacent in what we do and stop striving for better outcomes when we are already successful, we also assume that we cannot change the behavior of others—an important trait for high-level managers. Many also think executive coaching is meant for the problematic or dysfunctional individual. But, in fact, all of us could benefit from the outside perspective on our behavior that coaching provides.
As The New Yorker article suggests, just as the best opera singers have singing coaches, the most celebrated athletes continue working with personal trainers — even when they are regarded as the best in their sport — and the top CEOs have coaches to use as sounding boards, shouldn't you have an executive coach as well?
©2012 Smart Enterprise