Introduction
When the struggling professional golfer Rannulph Junnuh meets Bagger Vance, the mysterious caddie, magic happens. In the movie, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Vance helps Junnuh find and perfect his goal swing, and in the process, also shows him how to excel in life.
Timothy Gallwey, a Harvard educationalist and tennis expert, authored the bestselling book The Inner Game of Tennis. He used the word ‘inner’ to indicate the player’s internal state as Gallway says “the opponent within one’s own head is more formidable than the one on the other side of the net.”
There is an inner Junnuh, a tennis player, in all of us and all we need is a friendly nudge from a professional coach every once in a while. The value and the relevance of coaching is going beyond the ‘club’.
A leader who has settled does not need a coach. A leader who is comfortable does not need a coach.
A leader who has the hunger for success deserves a coach. A leader who aches to go beyond the comfort zone deserves a coach. A leader who wants to leave behind a legacy deserves a coach. Leadership coaching is for you.
Why Do We Need a Leadership Coach?
Being complacent can be extremely dangerous. All corporate leaders need leadership coaching at some point in their career as they can ‘lose their swing’ with time. Corporate leaders need to manage business and people. This multitasking increases the probability of missing the mark from time to time.
‘Losing the swing’ can be on a personal front and not just professional level, and both at times. What happens when you lose your swing? You feel like you have hit a brick wall or like you have lost the drive that fuelled your growth so far.
The Story of Vinayak Solanki
As a high-flying Sales Head at a leading MNC, Vinayak had a career trajectory that most would envy, until he was passed over for promotion. Soon enough, Vinayak’s performance began to take a hit and he ‘lost his swing’. His company tried to support him through his lean period but to no avail. There seemed to be no way to resuscitate the Vinayak who was a happy, confident go-getter until they found a way- Leadership Coaching.
The new Vinayak was happier and more confident.
Leadership Coaching Works and It Is Necessary
Mentoring is often misconstrued as coaching. Mentoring is not coaching. Leadership coaching is about partnering with the leader to help them tap into their potential so that they can go beyond their wildest dreams- personally and professionally!
Today’s leaders are faced with unprecedented trials. The Quit Quitting, Moonlighting, looming recession, the Russia-Ukraine war are some of the challenges. Coaching is unlocking people’s potential to maximize their own performance. A coaching mindset helps create a space where change is embraced effortlessly and an unprecedented level of performance and productivity is achieved.
What are the benefits of leadership coaching?
Many leaders believe that they do not need coaching. They feel that they have everything figured out. We have a few questions for you?
● Was Bill Gates a successful leader?
● Was Eric Schmidt a successful leader?
● Was Steve Jobs a successful leader?
Yes. Right? Then what made them get a coach?
They were undisputed leaders yet they signed up Bill Campbell as their coach and went on to recommend coaching to everyone. If they could do it, you can do it too!
5 Reasons Why Every Corporate Leader Needs a Leadership Coach
1. Alignment with purpose, goal-setting, accountability partner
The best leadership coaches enable you to discover and align yourselves with the true purpose of your life and set goals accordingly. Furthermore, they walk your journey as your accountability.
In Vinayak’s case, his life’s purpose revealed itself after a couple of sessions of soul-searching triggered by the probing questions of the coach. With this clarity and some self-guided analysis, Vinayak was soon able to formulate a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound) goal to tackle his professional setback. The corporate goal was to help Vinayak become a senior-level executive in his current company within the next 5 years. With this mandate, Vinayak and his coach co-created a plan of action that exercised and highlighted his strengths and core competencies. As Vinayak’s accountability partner, his coach ensured that Vinayak stayed on track and ticked off the boxes one by one.
2. Acts as a mirror
A leader can grow professionally only if the loop of decision-making is completed with honest, impartial feedback. Leaders find it difficult to get such feedback from colleagues and subordinates. A leadership coach’s objective is client wellness and success. The leadership coach is, therefore, the best at being the much-needed mirror that calls a spade a spade.
3. Find root causes of issues through self-awareness and improve EQ
Leadership coaches focus on the causes of issues rather than the symptoms, allowing for a problem to be solved holistically. They do this by empowering clients to identify strengths, weaknesses and blind spots and work on them.
Vinayak’s anger issues had damaged his relationships at home and office. Working with his leadership coach, Vinayak delved deeper into the issue and discovered that the real culprit was not anger, as he naturally assumed, but his habit of drinking excessively, which made him display anger destructively. This awareness prompted Vinayak to voluntarily give up the bottle, a tough feat that he eventually accomplished, with his coach by his side. Vinayak’s self-confidence got a boost with this achievement.
4. Achieve work-life integration
A leadership coach propels clients to excel on the professional and personal front in a perfectly balanced manner. Vinayak’s long hours at the office left him very little time to spend with his family. He and his coach brainstormed and came up with ways to streamline his work such that he could do justice to both office and home. No more missed family time, birthdays or anniversaries!
5. Safe space
Being a leader in the corporate world is challenging work as one cannot afford to make mistakes. It is a tightrope walk to navigate judgemental peers and adversaries. A leadership coach provides the much needed safe space where a leader can find unconditional acceptance and unequivocal support. Here one can share thoughts without reservations. Vinayak could be his true self with his coach. He could bounce off ideas and express his thoughts freely. Vinayak admits that this safe space is what really helped him most to sail through the difficult period.
Vinayak Solanki’s company had partnered with Regal Unlimited. He benefited immensely from our Leadership Coaching program. Over 6 months, Vinayak quit drinking, his relationship with his family improved and he was able to take the lost promotion opportunity in his stride.
The coaching engagement widened his perspectives and broadened his horizons, opening him to new possibilities and opportunities for personal and professional growth. It helped him unlock his full potential. He put in his best at work and this was reflected in his performance.
We asked Vinayak what was the greatest benefit of having a leadership coach. He said, “A leadership coach is your cheerleader, sounding board, friend, guide, and philosopher, all rolled in one. They can play any support role that would help you achieve your potential.”
Having found his ‘lost swing’, Vinayak Solanki is now happy and content. He cannot thank his leadership coach enough for the turnaround in his life.
Vinayak Solanki’s company had partnered with Regal Unlimited. He benefited immensely from our Leadership Coaching program. Over 6 months, Vinayak quit drinking, his relationship with his family improved and he was able to take the lost promotion opportunity in his stride.
The coaching engagement widened his perspectives and broadened his horizons, opening him to new possibilities and opportunities for personal and professional growth. It helped him unlock his full potential. He put in his best at work and this was reflected in his performance.
We asked Vinayak what was the greatest benefit of having a leadership coach. He said, “A leadership coach is your cheerleader, sounding board, friend, guide, and philosopher, all rolled in one. They can play any support role that would help you achieve your potential.”
Having found his ‘lost swing’, Vinayak Solanki is now happy and content. He cannot thank his leadership coach enough for the turnaround in his life.
Regal Unlimited’s Leadership Coaches Are the Best. Here Is Why.
At Regal Unlimited, we understand the changing dynamics of modern-day corporate lives, and our leadership coaching sessions are tailored to suit your exact requirements. Here is a quick overview of why and how leadership coaches from Regal Unlimited are the best bet. Apart from being ICF approved (the gold standard in coaching), our leadership coaches are-
● Relatable– We have the best leadership coaches whose experience as corporate leaders make it easier for them to step into your shoes and understand your issues.
● Execution– Their corporate stint gives them a unique perspective on execution that would help them hone their strategic decision-making skills.
● Focus on common good– Our leadership coaching program nurtures altruism and empowers clients to work in harmony with the greater common good.
● All-round development– Our leadership coaching program focuses on your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness to help unlock your full potential.
● Curated delivery– Our leadership coaches have a customized approach to achieving success.
The benefits of leadership coaching by Regal Unlimited are immeasurable as we can see from the experience of Vinayak Solanki.
“Inside each and every one of us is one true authentic swing. Over time the world can rob us of that swing. It gets buried inside us under all our wouldas and couldas and shouldas. Some folk even forget what their swing was. The trick is to find your swing.”- Bagger Vance, Find Your Swing
You deserve the best. You deserve Regal unlimited. Come, find, and perfect your swing with us. Book a call with us!