by Gregg Thompson

You know you are getting great leadership coaching when…

1. you are in the pit of despair. Many of your basic beliefs and assumptions about your role as a leader have been challenged, and you feel like you are losing your footing. You are seriously questioning your career to date and your personal aspirations.

2. you are really excited about the future. You don’t know what the next chapter of your leadership career is going to look like, but you do know that there is no going back now. Something new and fresh awaits you.

3. you are angry, frustrated and ready to fire your coach. None of your expectations for great pieces of advice and insights have been met. All you get are annoying questions like, “What will happen if your performance as a leader does not change?” and even more annoying statements such as, “I think you are much better than this.”

4. you are feeling a little sheepish. Your coach has called you on the many ways you sell yourself short or get in your own way, and you have just realized you have been blaming others in the organization for holding you back when, in reality, most of your limitations have been self-imposed.

5. you have a renewed excitement about yourself as a leader. You have just realized that there is a huge gap between the leader you are and the leader you can be. You’ve taken stock of your talents and strengths, and realized that you can have an enormous, lasting impact on your organization and the people in it. Very cool!

6. you are shaken by some sharp, gut-wrenching feedback. It’s getting tougher to dismiss this feedback as the product of people who simply don’t understand you or who have ulterior motives. What if this is actually true? What if I am wrong?

7. you are feeling energized and powerful. No longer a victim of organizational circumstances, you now have options and alternatives. You are committed to making your own choices and crafting your own leadership story. Wow!

8. your personal life has become brighter. You now show up to your friends and family as a kind, caring and patient person who sees the very best in them and continually seeks out ways to serve them. You have realized that you can only be the best possible leader at work by being the best possible person at home.

9. you have stopped wasting your precious time and energy. You have embraced your emotions and become their master, not their slave. You have ceased to burn emotional energy reacting to organizational issues that you cannot influence and people you cannot control. You have developed an inner muscle that gives you the strength to choose your own best leadership actions and reactions.

10. remarkably . . . the people around you have changed for the better. Somehow, the under-performers, sloths and misfits that used to be ever-present are now gone and have been replaced with wonderfully creative and highly-engaged teammates. Interesting!

Gregg Thompson is President of Bluepoint Leadership Development.
He welcomes your comments by email.

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