The best career move you haven't made yet

Aug 15, 2024

In case you missed it last week—I’m looking to write a future article about cultural differences in working motherhood. If you are an American mom raising kids abroad (Canada counts!), please respond to this email if you’d be willing to have a 30-45 minute interview with me. Thanks!

In just a few days, my kids will hop on the bus for their first day of school. And though the end of summer is always a little sad, it also brings a palpable sense of fresh starts and new beginnings. For so many of us, the back-to-school period is synonymous with setting goals, establishing routines, and embracing new challenges. On the work front, it can serve as a natural reset point—after the slower pace of summer, many workplaces pick up momentum in the fall, making it an ideal time to refocus and realign your career aspirations.

Most people are familiar with the traditional forms of professional development—workshops and seminars, online courses and webinars, professional conferences, or even returning to school for additional training or degrees. Each of these options have benefits, as well as limitations.

One of the most common frustrations of these traditional modalities is that they aren’t personalized enough. For example, I know that I’ve felt disappointed by various conferences I’ve attended in the past. And who hasn’t sat on a webinar and felt like they just wasted an hour of their life? Of course there are some really stellar program out there, but too many of us leave professional development events feeling like we didn’t really get what we needed.

Enter leadership coaching. Coaching is a highly individualized method of leadership development. It’s like having a personal guide who helps you uncover new insights, develop essential skills, and adopt behaviors and perspectives that elevate your performance and satisfaction. But here's the kicker: coaches don’t tell you what to do. Instead, coaches ask the right questions, helping you tap into your own expertise and sense of agency—and thereby ensuring that what you learn lasts beyond the scope of the coaching engagement.

For coaching to be maximally successful, strong rapport between the coach and client is essential. At the end of the day, you have to trust this person and be willing to be a bit vulnerable with them. Many people find that it’s helpful to work with a coach who shares similar values. Since you’re reading this newsletter, I’m guessing you value having a meaningful career and being an involved parent. Since I also share those values, I wanted to share a little more about my approach to coaching and how it might benefit you as you embark on this season of fresh starts.

What to expect from leadership coaching

In the course of a coaching engagement, we do several things:

Set clear goals

In every consultation call I have, I ask prospective clients what their goals are. This is often a harder question than they anticipate. During our first session, we really dive in and interrogate what they want to change so that we can articulate goals that are both ambitious and achievable. With my guidance, clients get at the root issue underlying the surface-level “symptoms” (for example, “I need more time in my schedule” is the surface issue, while “I need to get more comfortable with and effective at delegating” might be the core issue).

Together, we identify what’s getting in your way, as well as map out tangible metrics for success. In other words, you articulate what success looks like to you. This keeps us both accountable for the change you want to see.

Enhance self-awareness

Coaching offers a reflective space that encourages clients to examine their actions and the impact they have on others. I rely on both a leadership assessment instrument and a pre-engagement reflection exercise to help get clients thinking about how others perceive their leadership style. During our subsequent conversations, clients come away with a much clearer understanding of how to leverage their strengths and compensate for areas of challenge.

Gain fresh perspectives

As your coach, I provide an objective viewpoint, helping you see situations from angles you might not have considered. Through targeted questioning and feedback, coaching encourages you to explore new ideas, challenge existing assumptions, and develop creative solutions. This process fosters innovative thinking, enabling you to approach problems and opportunities with a renewed mindset.

Develop essential skills

Through focused conversations, feedback, and real-world application, coaching accelerates your learning process, helping you master new skills more effectively. This hands-on approach ensures that the skills you develop are not only theoretical but also practical, empowering you to lead more confidently and effectively in your professional role. From improving communication and decision-making abilities to enhancing your emotional intelligence and resilience, coaching equips you with the tools needed to excel in your career.

Build confidence

Embarking on a new professional development journey can be challenging. Coaching provides the support and encouragement you need to build confidence, tackle obstacles, and embrace new opportunities with assurance. By setting and achieving incremental goals, my clients experience tangible progress, reinforcing their belief in their capabilities. Additionally, the development of effective communication skills and decision-making strategies through coaching equips you with the tools you need to lead with conviction—ultimately enhancing your overall confidence in both professional and personal settings.

Is coaching the right fit for me?

In short, if you’re interested in your own continuous growth and development, willing to accept feedback, and motivated to try different approaches, you will benefit from the tailored guidance and support that coaching offers.

Clients typically seek coaching when there’s a gap between where they are and where they want to be, or during significant professional and personal transitions. Sustained behavior change takes time, so I offer multi-month packages to ensure meaningful progress. Clear goals, client responsibility, and a willingness to act on insights are key to successful coaching engagements.

Some people worry that they aren’t at the right “level” for coaching. Most (but not all) of my clients have supervisory responsibilities and are at least 8-10 years into their career. In addition to executives, I frequently work with senior leaders, rising stars, and high-potential individuals across various sectors. Whether you’re a physician, professor, higher education administrator, attorney, nonprofit leader, or corporate professional, coaching can provide significant benefits.

This all sounds great, but how do I pay for it?

Though some clients prefer to pay for executive/leadership coaching privately, many want to secure company sponsorship (i.e., have their organizations pay for the coaching engagement). It’s a completely reasonable ask—coaching is one of the most impactful ways to spend professional development funds, as it delivers tangible returns for both the individual and the organization.

I wrote a whole article about how to ask your organization to sponsor your coaching, but here’s the Cliffs Notes version:

Do your research to understand your organization's budget and practices regarding professional development.
The timing of your request is crucial; leverage situations like promotions, new roles, performance reviews, retention issues, or when your boss is supportive of coaching.
Craft a compelling argument by outlining how coaching will benefit both your professional growth and the organization. Highlight the specific needs coaching addresses, its impact on engagement and retention, and argue the value over the cost.
Be prepared for potential objections and suggest solutions such as cost-sharing.

Let’s do this! How can I learn more?

I would love to work with you! I’ve met a number of clients through this newsletter, and it’s been a delight to work with every single one. I feel like we start with a common understanding since we both hold values around meaningful work and engaged parenting.

The first step is to schedule a complimentary 30 minute consultation call. The purpose of this call is to ensure that there is a mutual good fit and for you to learn more about the coaching process. I look forward to hearing from you!