3 Ways an Executive Coach Can Help You in The New Year

Posted on January 06, 2015 by Brad Baxter, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.

It’s hard to resist resolutions in the New Year, and perhaps even more tempting is for coaches like me to trumpet how a coach can help attain those elusive goals. You know: the ones you’ve had on your to-do list for the last few January’s. (Since I will have a coach in 2015, I feel guilt-free in sharing this post.)

So why does this happen to us each year, and how can a professional coach help break that cycle?

We’re Set In Our Ways
By our nature, humans can be set in our ways. Homeostasis is a term referring to the maintenance of the status quo and maintaining consistency – biologically and psychologically. The same is true with cross-country skiing, where one takes advantage of those nice, smooth tracks already laid. It sure does make skiing easier. Our minds use these proverbial ski tracks to keep us feeling comfortable and moving along efficiently, even when a different path is desired.

The Coach’s Job
As it relates to goal setting (i.e. resolutions), a coach’s job is to be a creative thought and accountability partner – to support you in setting resonant goals for yourself and then working alongside you to ensure they are achieved – to help get you on a new track that works.

3 Ways an Executive Coach Can Help You in The New Year

1. Connecting Your Goals to Your Values
A professional coach works with you to clarify what you really want and what that means to you. Identifying core values and connecting your goals and plans with these values will ensure what you do is grounded in who you are.

2. Helping You Find Creative Solutions
We are often so close to our challenges that we lose perspective and the ability to be objective about our situation. A coach has the benefit of fresh eyes and isn’t mired in the story of where you have been. The coach meets you where you are and helps you focus on what’s possible now and in the future. Guiding you to see things from new perspectives creates an environment for your own creative solutions to surface.

3. Keeping You on Your Chosen Path
Finally, most clients benefit from the role coaches play as their accountability partner — not just in the New Year but all year. Going back to the point about homeostasis, a coach will help you stay on track when doing so just isn’t easy. A confidential coaching engagement allows both client and coach to be authentic and transparent about how things are going. This dynamic is too often absent in the relationships executives have at work. Authenticity and transparency are necessary to achieving critical breakthroughs for your success and the success of your organization.