CEO Coach: How to Be a Leader in Today's World

What do Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Eric Schmidt, and Richard Branson have in common (other than running some of the most successful companies on the planet)?

They all received executive coaching at some point in their careers.

They didn’t just wake up one day, at the helm of a billion-dollar company, with a sharp leadership style, knowing exactly how to make seamless executive decisions and direct an army of employees in the right direction.

Yes, they had inherent qualities that helped them get to the top, but their coaches stoked those innate qualities and sharpened their talents to become some of the most successful CEOs in history.

CEO Coaching Throughout the Years

Being the chief executive officer of any company, no matter how big or small, is a formidable role to fill. Being a leader is tough enough, but when the growth of your company and of your employees lies on your shoulders, it can be an extremely arduous and sometimes unsurmountable position.

In fact, several studies have shown that in the past few years, 52% of CEO exits from their companies on the Russel 3000 Index were due to them being fired rather than voluntarily stepping away or retiring.

There is one big takeaway from this statistic: today’s business leaders are exceedingly underprepared for the CEO role; too much expected from them and they receive little or no training when first assuming such a difficult position.

Executive Coaching has always had a place among the corporate elite. Multimillion-dollar companies have been paying big price tags for leadership coaching for their top leaders for decades.

But now, it is trickling down to mid-sized and smaller companies because it is becoming more accessible, and the benefits are becoming more obvious.

The Competitive Demand for Executive Coaching

Leadership development through coaching is becoming a well-known business tactic to enhance and grow a company from the top down.  

Only the most innovative companies know that investing in coaching for their CEOs and other leadership positions increases their performance to an intensity that they would not have achieved without the proper guidance.

The proof is in the pudding: take this study done by Laurie Bassi and Daniel McMurrer for the Harvard Business Review. In it, they found that three stock portfolios made up of companies that invested large amounts of money on employee development “each outperformed the S&P 500 by 17 - 35% during 2003.”

CEO Coaching has become a matter of improving yourself as a leader and a crucial tactic to get ahead of the curve to outperform every business you are competing against.

If you still aren’t convinced how CEO coaching can help you, here are 5 ways a CEO coach will revolutionize your leadership capabilities and expand your company as a whole.

1. Nobody Taught You How to Be a Leader in Today’s World

Looking back at that statistic I referred to about 52% of CEOs being fired; this means that companies are firing CEOs left and right because they know there are 30 other candidates more than ready and more than qualified to fill your spot.

From managers to senior executives, leaders are aware that there is more competition than ever. The pressure is tougher than ever, and there are more and more people you need to influence or compete against. All while technology is constantly changing every industry at an overwhelming rate.

On top of staying afloat in this hectic professional atmosphere, you also need to lead with a strong and clear head on your shoulders.

While you probably went to school to become an expert in some field and took the courses and certifications necessary to make you an expert in that field—but none of those classes or courses ever taught you the skills necessary for executive leadership.

That’s where your executive coach comes in to fill in all of the fundamental leadership blanks you are struggling to conceptualize.

CEO coaching will help you focus and clearly separate what your duties are as a leader and what your duties are as the top employee of your company.

But most importantly, CEO coaching will teach you how to carry on your various roles with ease and effectiveness by showing you how to plan in the long-term, keep yourself accountable, and reach your goals every week, month, quarter, and year.

2. CEO Coaches Create Decisive, Better-Informed CEOs

While you’re engulfed by the obstacles that are just within your reach and surrounded by daily tasks, board members, and meetings about annual revenue and whatnot, a CEO coach will be able to quietly survey the situation and any issue at hand without the noise of being in your position.

This expanded viewpoint will largely improve your skills at decision making, helping you make earlier, more informed decisions with conviction and in a quarter of the time.

Most chief executives need someone to guide them through a specific situation, expand their view of the issue at hand, and push them on to make quicker and better decisions.

3. Objectivity Makes for Great Coaching

A CEO coach will offer you unapologetically objective advice. This means they have no secret agenda, conflicting interests, or biased beliefs regarding your company and your success.

This detached viewpoint, which is different from what anyone on your leadership team can offer, can give you a 360 view of your surroundings and widen your perspective of any issue.

Blind Spotting

A widened perspective means you have the advantage of spotting blind spots. Issues in your rearview mirror that are coming up, but you have no way of anticipating them due to your focus being somewhere else or because you lack the experience to anticipate them.

After all, part of what makes an effective CEO is the ability to solve problems before they arise, and a coach has both the experience of a former CEO and the vantage point to help you spot those blind spots.

Objective Sounding Board

Furthermore, the objectivity that CEO coaches offer makes them the perfect sounding board for stoking creativity, strategizing a game plan, overcoming obstacles, and planning for the future of your personal life and professional career.

They are literally paid to listen to you and effectively bounce new ideas off you to lead you to the right answers.

4. CEOs Should Never Stop Learning

Part of what makes better leaders is their ability to adapt to change, move with the tide, and strive for innovation—all of which are only possible if you are continuously learning and keeping up-to-date with the ever-changing world.

Getting the job of CEO most likely means you have acquired a large skillset and expertise within your field. You’ve probably had to do a lot of learning to get where you are.

But the mistake that a lot of CEOs and senior leaders make is they assume they have learned what they needed to learn and come to a standstill in their development.

Coaching CEOs means coaching leaders who are ahead of the curb because they are open to learning and getting ahead of the competition.

Great coaches ask the tough questions to understand what skills and knowledge you are missing to fill in those blanks and move upwards from there to reach great success.

Steve Jobs is an excellent example of this; it was near the end of his life that Steve Jobs enlisted the help of executive coach John Mattonne. Jobs was trying to secure his legacy and become a CEO connected to his inner core to touch the minds and hearts of his team members and those around him.

He was already ultra-successful in terms of money, achievements, and status, but he recognized that he was not perfect and that growth and learning never stops.

Jobs knew he still had faults and obstacles that prevented him from becoming the best leader he could be—even towards the end of his life.

5. When the CEO Grows, Everyone Grows

Amy Jen Su, CEO Coaching expert, puts it perfectly in a recent article for Forbes:

“As your role or span of control grows, you will eventually be capped by your own capacity no matter how effective or productive you are. A fundamental mindset shift must occur from I want to raise my game to realizing I raise my game by raising the game of others.”

This mindset she is referring to is the hallmark of a world class CEO which focuses on the belief that high performance at any capacity comes from the growth of your team and employees at every level.

Many coaches work with this mindset, and CEO coaching will not only help you get into that mindset but help you make better decisions that directly inspire, encourage, and build up those around you.

Your self-development, when done right, will galvanize your organization and help everyone come together to reach the same goals.

At the end of the day, it’s your job to grow your company and reach your organizational goals. You need your teams to perform at their best. It’s up to you, with the help of your coach, to get them there.

Bottom Line

Whether you are a seasoned CEO or just got promoted to a leadership position within your organization, coaching will help you in the areas that you need the most assistance with, whether it’s learning how to handle the stress that comes with leadership or creating unity among your team members to collaborate more effectively.

If you aren’t sure where to start, CoCaptain is a good place to look at options that range from different price points and coaching niches.  

Let us know how executive coaching has helped improve your business or how you envision your coaching outcome: