You are a top level manager; you have made it. You shape the company’s fate and make decisions, you are successful. Is there anything people in such situations don’t have? The answer is simple and applies to many: they lack the room and time for structured thinking. The reflective exchange of thoughts is not given enough attention in tackling the everyday challenges of a manager.

C. Otto Scharmer once said, “How situations develop depends on how we approach them, on our own attentiveness and awareness.” Especially when we aim to develop these qualities we need tranquility and insight.
There are various ways to achieve tranquility and insight. One of them is coaching. Coaching is about being able to trace one’s own thoughts, achieve clarity and evaluate assumptions and hypotheses. It’s the coach’s job to create and design a suitable space.

In coaching, leaders can expect to be listened to with real interest and respect. Exploratory and astute questions from the coach enable us to see situations realistically. If the coach also provides emotional support, this creates a space for the manager to think. Genuine attention makes it possible to gain access to one’s own deeper insights and solutions.
In stages of relevant developments, the company needs the attention and attentiveness of managers. Coaching – as an accompanying element in change processes – is therefore a powerful support method.

Tips

  1. Select your coach carefully: coaches can be helpful if they listen to you, listen and listen some more with genuine attention and interest, allowing you to trace your own thoughts.
  2. Executive coaching is powerful if you have the feeling that you’re talking to an equal partner.
  3. Don’t let a coach distract you from your line of thinking.
  4. Feelings must be allowed and respected.
  5. If coaching is to be successful, it needs to make you feel like you are important.