Individuals working with an executive coach, as well as the organizations supporting that coaching, can expect to see a significant return on their investment.

Gone are the days when being assigned an executive coach was something of a stigma—a sign you couldn’t make it on your own or needed remedial help. That’s simply not the case.

If you can see the benefits of having a personal trainer to help you develop physically, you can appreciate the value of having an executive coach to help you develop professionally. That’s what coaching is about—making you a more effective leader or manager or team member by cultivating the leadership qualities and traits that characterize effective, high-performance people.

Consider what executive coaching can bring to your career, and even to your life:

• Meet goals you’ve set—or that have been set for you.

Just as a personal trainer helps you get where you want to be (or where your doctor wants you to be), an executive coach can guide you in achieving a specific goal or meeting a specific challenge that you or your organization has set. That could be anything from…

• • a fast-track project or mandate (“achieve a 10% sales increase in 60 days”)
  • an ongoing, day-to-day business need (“maintain a 24-hour turnaround on order fulfillment”)
  • a longer-term goal (“increase overall team efficiency and self-sufficiency”)

• Bring blind spots into focus.

A personal trainer is trained to spot strengths and weaknesses, and it’s the same with an executive coach. If you’ve ever wondered why the same problems keep recurring, where you should be focusing your efforts, what you could be doing to progress, an executive coach can bring clarity. And, importantly, can give you specific guidance, tools, tips and tactics to overcome weaknesses and build on strengths.

• Keep you accountable.

We’re all human and we all struggle with staying motivated and on task. Through regular check-ins and assignments and debriefs, your executive coach helps you stay focused and see the results of your efforts.

• Build a solid foundation of leadership skills for wherever your career leads.

Careers these days are more “lattice” than “ladder.” Your progression to higher levels may not be a straight line up—you may be called on to take different roles, in different areas of the organization.

The beauty of executive coaching is that it helps you build leadership skills that are evergreen and applicable to any situation, above and beyond the immediate project or goals. You may also find, as many of the people we coach do, that you will be able to apply what you’ve learned to excel in your personal life as well.

Bottom Line: If your organization is investing in executive coaching for you—or if you’re seeking out a coach on your own, celebrate it and run with it!

It shows they’re committed to you and your success, and your coach will be, too. The focus is on making a measurable and meaningful return to the business and to your personal growth. That’s the win-win.

Think about it:

• What goals or areas of your job would you focus on with an executive coach?
• What skills do you wish you could improve?
• Where would you like to be in your career? What’s holding you back from getting there?