What is a leadership coach?

A friend of mine recently told me that she once had a coach and wasn’t impressed. She said that when she asked for advice, the coach’s response was, “I’m not here to give advice; I’m here to cheer you on for whatever decision you make.”

I wasn’t there to hear the actual conversation in all of its context. But I can certainly see a lot of potential for miscommunication and misunderstanding in a statement that simple.

So let’s look at both sides.

Does a leadership coach give advice?

I won’t speak for all leadership coaches. But technically, I don’t give advice. But that doesn’t mean I leave my clients to their own creativity. I will certainly encourage them to think of their own ideas, because I don’t want them to become dependent on me for their future growth. But I do more than that. I offer tools to help them widen their creativity. Sometimes I’ll reference a metaphor they used earlier, or I’ll invite them to imagine how specific people might approach the challenge. I will also draw on my experience to add ideas for them to consider, after they’ve come up with a list of their own.

So do I give advice? Not really, but I do help people find what they think advice would give them.

Is a leadership coach a cheerleader?

Well, as your coach, my role is to encourage your future growth. Sometimes, simply moving from indecisiveness to a decision is a breakthrough that’s worth celebrating. And when you’ve reached a milestone that you and I have discussed but nobody else knows about, it’s certainly appropriate for me to cheer you on. Other times, my feedback may feel more confrontational. I will point out when you’re making decisions that seem to go against your own stated values or goals. I’ll also reflect when your words and your body language seem to disagree. I will challenge you to think longer, deeper, harder, more broadly, more creatively, or even counterintuitively. And sometimes, with your permission, I will confront you with uncomfortable truths that nobody else has ever been willing to share with you.

So do I cheer you on for whatever decision you make? I would say that as your coach I will encourage and support your future growth, regardless of what decisions you may have made.

If you’re still wondering what this looks like, I’d like to invite you to experience it for yourself.

Visiting https://northwayinsights.com/complimenatary will let you schedule a one-time complimentary one-on-one coaching session with me. It’s my gift to you; there’s no cost, no obligation, and no expectation that you’ll become a client. Very few people will show the initiative to take me up on this offer.

But I welcome you to find out for yourself in real-time, “What is a leadership coach?”