As a leadership coach, you have some of the most fortunate opportunities in the business world. You get to encourage, enhance, sharpen and motivate leaders. These are also profound responsibilities.
Employees, shareholders and customers are impacted by what leaders do: by their ideas, visions, decisions and mistakes. They’re all counting on leaders to improve and grow their organizations, and do this with a profit. These are big expectations.
Leaders need coaches who are on top of their game, applying sound principles and practices to shed light on some challenging areas. Some leaders are challenged by strategic issues, some by behavioral. Others struggle with emotional or political issues. Only coaches with keen knowledge and methods can effectively sort through the complexities of how people think, feel and work.
This begs some questions: Do leadership coaches ever master their craft? Is it ever wise for a coach to consider themselves as learned enough? I hope you agree that the answers to these questions are “no”. Since no one can learn all there is about their trade, there should always be a desire to learn more and get better.
If you truly care about providing excellent service, you should not only have that desire, but you should make it part of your job, designating a portion of your time for it. Consider learning as a duty, one that’s performed away from your clients, but definitely for their benefit (and yours).
There are a number of ways to continue learning about your trade:
- Get a certification from an accredited training program. There are a number of noted programs, some conducted as courses or conferences. This is a prominent way to expand your knowledge and earn more credentials.
- Tap into courses online, given as paid or free services of schools, companies or consulting firms. A variety of topics are taught through internet content, some given as webinars or short courses.
- Attend seminars or conferences on coaching or leadership. They typically have highly sought guest speakers, who offer a wealth of experience and knowledge.
- Read! There is an almost unlimited supply of books and articles available on every aspect of coaching, leadership and business practices. Keep an ongoing reading list close to your desk (or on your device/in a cloud).
Of course, the great selection of leadership content available for you at Content for Coaches is your widest selection of leadership information, created specifically for coaches and consultants. We provide key references to resources within our articles, offering you a pre-screened source of valuable information to continue your learning.
Let us know what continuing education efforts have provided you with the greatest benefit as a coach or consultant. Send us an email; we’d love to hear from you. Your stories will likely inspire others to keep learning!