By Peter James, PhD, MBA, PCC. 2020… It has been a year for all of us. From a global pandemic to work-from-home to social unrest to all-day Zoom or Microsoft Teams calls, the toll that the year has taken on us has been astronomical. As we step into 2021, one thing that I can guarantee is that normal, as we have known it, will never return. But this should not be looked at as a bad thing.
Change. You see, change is a must in our lives. Whether we initiate it or it is thrust upon us, it is truly another guarantee. Some change (as in 2020), however, has monumental implications. It is now our responsibility to decide how we will respond (or react) to this inherent change. We have a choice, even now. Some questions to ask ourselves in light of this change include:
- How has this change affected me for the better?
- How has it made me a better leader?
- How might it strengthen my department or organization?
- What can I do now in order to prepare us for the future?
Coaching: The world’s most revered companies have experienced and continue to experience the value of coaching. Whether it is for enhanced decision-making, increased confidence, improvement in productivity, or attainment of relevant goals (
PricewaterhouseCoopers), they all know that having coaches available for their leaders and staff benefits both the culture and the individual.
Outcomes: While research (
Anderson, 2001) has historically shown that coaching is an effective process and tool for producing both financial and intangible benefits for organizations, high-performing organizations continue to identify productivity and employee satisfaction as important measures that also improve as a result. In addition, Sharma (
2017) found that coaching helps to strengthen the environment and culture for organizations which ultimately enhances well-being and heightens performance.
As described, both our internal and external environments can become volatile quickly. Are you preparing and ensuring that your organization and your people continue to perform at a high level when these environments change right in front of us? If not, now is your opportunity to make a change.
For more about leadership, change, and how executive coaching can help,
schedule a consultation with Peter.
