Setting up in business – 3 essential character traits from an executive coach

In 2002 I left behind 15 years of corporate security to go out on my own and set up an executive coaching company. It took a commitment to lifelong learning, perseverance and a lot of facing my fears (getting comfortable with healthy tears!) until, as an executive coach in London, I thrived. When I make regular reviews of my life now I’m grateful to my core that I made that move.

Since being a teenager I’d imagined I would own my own company at some point in my life. I’d come from an entrepreneurial family – but still at 30 years old had no idea how I was going to make the move from my comfortable London corporate job into the grit and fast-tracked hustle of entrepreneurial life.

Ultimately the decision was made for me (as often happens when we hold a vision that we’re not taking sufficient action to realise!). In a challenging 12-month period in the second year of the new millenium, I left my marriage (an empowered choice), bought a new home (an inspiring space), had my first child (an eternal blessing), took a short maternity leave (14 weeks) and returned to my Commercial Director role … where 3 months later I was made redundant (with a healthy pay off – a lovely silver lining!).

As a single mother it made sense to invest in the flexibility of running my own business. It took a full 6 weeks of conversations and meditations to work out what product or service would most inspire me. There were no executive coaching schools in the UK in 2002 so I did a post graduate degree out of the US – that was a juggle!

I took on my first executive contracts while I was still studying and within 5 years had clients from some of the biggest media companies in the world – directors, editors, publishers, actors, authors – what a delight. The next 5 years I expanded to coach leaders in finance, medicine and new energy – CEOs, MDs, marketeers and financiers. From there I began to work with business owners of small and medium sized companies who themselves had made their own leaps into entrepreneurship and were conscious to keep aware and ahead of their game – thus their seeking out an executive coach in London.

There are people who will be driven at some point to go into business on their own. There are others who enjoy the cultures and routines found in most salaried jobs. If you think you’re one of the former, here are the top 3 character traits that got me beyond decade one:

1. A healthy relationship to risk: there are points when you ask, borrow or say ‘yes’ for something way beyond what you think you can deliver. Growing pains are an essential part of expansion. The wisdom lies in defining healthy risk: too cautious or too gung ho and you may not make it through to your crucial year-3 tipping point (where it often gets easier – extra confidence and experience perhaps)

2. A strong support network: this could be family (although they’re often not the best people to help you stretch beyond your comfort zones) or could equally be other business owners who’re a few (or many) steps ahead. I’ve found that mentors, business coaches and mastermind groups have all enriched my journey to date – and I continue to invest in an executive coach for my own ongoing best performance.

3. A philosophical mindset: there’s just no way you can foresee the challenges or the opportunities that show up month to month. What helps though is to define and hold a clear vision of where you’re heading. What difference is your product or service going to make to each person who encounters it? And then, what difference is delivering that service seamlessly year after year going to make to your quality of life and your ability to give back?

As an executive coach in London and now increasingly in Scotland, I see people every day who’re choosing to make extraordinary changes to their life – personally and professionally. If you want the same … consider the leap!

For more info: http://jenniferbroadley.com/

Corporate risk – how big is too big?

Corporate risk is a tricky subject. Too little risk and the competitors will be steaming ahead. Too much risk and it scares the shareholders (and the accountants!) – unless of course it all plays out perfectly … in which case you’re the hero (for today at least)!

A certain amount of risk is essential for organisation to break new ground, put together more creative teams and stay ahead in their sector.

I recently worked with an Managing Director client where the foyer of his house (where he also has an office) was bigger than the total meterage of my own home. I was hired by the company to support this MD’s high performance as of one of the most valuable leaders in the organisation. He is super-bright, inspired, motivated and people at all levels of the company like to be in his company.

Normally my conversations with directors are quick-paced, colourful in exploring the possibilities, clear about what a best way forward would be and what ultimate outcomes would benefit the most people. This MD was known for forging forward with fresh ideas and smart hires. He’d had super-positive results in his past 2 companies. On a scale of 1-10 I’d say he was an 8.5 when it came to risk and he had a highly developed sense of this market sector, his clients needs, what the next generation of products & services was going to look like.

Here’s the top 3 things I think are worth knowing about risk having coached this MD and other leaders like him:

1. Measurement makes risk less risky: if you know the skill set of your teams, the value of your service, and the needs of your clients; if you have a deep sense of your brand, a handle on company finances and cash flow, and a sense of what you’d be willing to lose in order to gain, then the decisions that others may perceive as risky may instead feel exciting to you.

2. Discomfort can be motivating: stretching your leaders to get new systems, new schedules and new numbers out of their teams may well increase tension (and perhaps even a reaction from comfort-zone lovers), but it’s worth it if the alternative is sameness and the stretch ultimately keeps a company thriving, employing talent (who are supporting families) and increasing their client service.

3. Change & expansion cultures are healthy: all future-embracing companies would be smart to actively skill up their managers and directors to systemise the present, then invest in asking ‘so what could be next’? ‘What does more look like’? ‘How can we further meet the needs of our clients and customers’?

We’ve all heard the ‘no risk no reward’ line. It makes sense more so in today’s fast-paced markets than ever.

Or I can leave you to ponder Albert Einstein’s take on risk; he said: “A ship is always safe at shore – but that’s not what it’s built for”.

For more info: http://jenniferbroadley.com/

Executive coaching in the UK: happiness + satisfaction = profits

I’ve noticed recently that certain UK business cultures are more open to investing in their people’s ‘soft’ skills; the mental and emotional skills that enrich a corporate environment. They include the ability to effectively communicate, openly negotiate, embrace change, respect diversity and have active and versatile team dynamics.

The 2 company types most likely to encourage maximum release of potential in their teams are:

small businesses (50 people or less) with fast decision making abilities, ambitions expansion plans and the founder still at the helm; and - See more at: http://jenniferbroadley.com/blog/#sthash.V3Jtb3UZ.dpuf

small businesses (50 people or less) with fast decision making abilities, ambitions expansion plans and the founder still at the helm; and - See more at: http://jenniferbroadley.com/blog/#sthash.V3Jtb3UZ.dpuf

• small businesses (50 people or less) with fast decision making abilities, ambitions expansion plans and the founder still at the helm; and

super-large corporates (1000 +) with products and services in demand in most countries on the planet. - See more at: http://jenniferbroadley.com/blog/#sthash.V3Jtb3UZ.dpuf

• super-large corporates (1000 +) with products and services in demand in most countries on the planet. 

Executive coaching makes sense for leaders in these 2 categories because:

• it provides a confidential space to talk through the possibilities and to test how convinced an MD might be about the next 12 months of growth – and when they’re convinced, they’re convincing (streamlining buy-in from group heads and inspiring collaborative action taking) 

the more aware their leaders are the more likely they’ll make a smart decision first time round – saving time and money - See more at: http://jenniferbroadley.com/blog/#sthash.V3Jtb3UZ.dpuf

• the more aware their leaders are the more likely they’ll make a smart decision first time round – saving time and money 

• directors who are coached are generally more satisfied with work and life; and a business that invests in its talent is more likely to retain it 

• coaching creates clarity which in turn creates confidence – and confident people inspire others to question the status quo and to push the boundaries beyond those of the competition 

• it encourages leaders to question their assumptions and limiting beliefs and replace them with innovative thinking 

a regular conversation about what’s going well and what could be going better means that issues aren’t left unattended long enough to gather momentum - See more at: http://jenniferbroadley.com/blog/#sthash.V3Jtb3UZ.dpuf

• a regular conversation about what’s going well and what could be going better means that issues aren’t left unattended long enough to gather momentum 

• there’s never a moment where a leader knows it all. Lifelong learning, with an aware and conscious coach, will expand knowledge, enrich communication skills and contribute to bringing out the best in colleagues and clients alike

You may notice that not one of these points directly has a dollar sign directly against it. And that’s because there’s an emerging new era for what defines corporate success. People come first. The money flows afterwards.

Executive coaching contributes to happy employees, who in turn do extraordinary work every day to satisfy clients and customers.

The knock on reward from happiness and satisfaction is repeat business and multiple customer recommendations. There’s genuinely no more effective a marketing strategy. From that starting point, you can (in the simplest terms) leave the financial bottom line to take care of itself.

For more info: http://jenniferbroadley.com/

The no-frills HRD formula for finding an executive coach in London

Over the last 12 years of being an executive coach in London I’ve learned that no matter how skilled I am at my profession, if people can’t find me, or if clients don’t recommend me I may as well shut up shop.
 
There are excellent executive coaches in London (or anywhere) who are less than skilled marketeers. Conversely there are unskilled exec coaches who are highly skilled marketeers (be alert for these).

If you’re an HR head looking for the highest-skilled coach how do you edit out the diamonds from the dummies – especially when time is so valuable and you perhaps haven’t the resources to go through a huge tender, assessment, contracting process?

Here’s my Quintuple-Ask formula that’s economical, timely & effective:

1. Ask your LinkedIn network: ask for recommendations of coaches they’ve had good experiences with, AND those they would recommend you steer clear of. NB. Ensure they private message the info back to you – obviously!

2. Ask the senior tier of your company: HR teams many not know all the exec coaches presently working with their senior team. I get contacted more often by company directors who’ve been recommended to call by friends or someone in their professional network. Most senior execs inform their HRD after we’ve contracted, however not all, so you might get some new names out of this exercise.

3. Ask online: googling ‘executive coach London’, ‘CEO coach UK’, ‘leadership coaching Aberdeen’ (or wherever) will deliver coaches who are invested in their overall marketing and are active in keeping their website information fresh and relevant. How are they representing themselves? Who’s their target market? What’s their experience? Are they still in business 2 years or 20 years after having started? Are they qualified as coaches? Or are they ex-corporate leaders, trainers, or mentors – all of whom have value, yet none of whom are executive coaches – just know the skills you’re buying.

4.  Ask coaches by phone: when you have a top 20 list (or just 10 perhaps), it’s easily whittled down to a top 5 in a single 15 minute first conversation. With a key half dozen questions you’ll know who makes sense to meet face to face and who doesn’t.

5.  Ask coaches direclty: schedule a single day where all 5 coaches will come in and rotate every 45 minutes through a selected 5 executive who’ll coach and talk with them. There’s no hiding in a face-to-face service sampling. You can choose for your execs to give number or comment feedback – or a mixture of both. The stats and opinions will indicate to you which of the coaching tribe are right for your organisation – perhaps 2 or 3. Perhaps all 5.

This selection process could be implemented in under a month – and by one person. It’s intensive, but cost and time effective. A diverse range of qualified, experienced executive coaches make all the difference to a company’s evolution.

For more info: http://jenniferbroadley.com/

Phone coaching – get with the program

I took on my first executive coaching client in 2002. Until 2007 almost all my clients were in London, and 8 out of 10 coaching sessions were face-to-face. It’s what was expected a decade back.

In 2014 it’s all change. My UK clients are in London, Manchester, Glasgow & Aberdeen … and even one in a cottage industry on a remote Hebridean island. My overseas clients are in Ireland, US, India and Hong Kong. All bar 2 are phone or skype clients; and 8 out of 10 of my clients these days I’ll never meet in person for the weeks, months or years we’re in partnership.

The change in the perception of trusted, remote-location relationships has been hugely influenced by the last decade of social media culture. The population’s skill set to edit out people we don’t trust and filter in the genuine is evolving. We practice this with dating, with the websites we buy our clothes from, or the hotels we choose blind for our hot summer holiday.

Do we make mistakes with trusting online providers? Sometimes. But not as much as we benefit from having increased choices.

So how does it work when a client’s checking out my coaching services versus any other executive coach in the UK (or the world)?

Initial contact with me is almost always made by email followed by a quick, scheduled 15 minute phone call. Most execs are hungry for change so the faster the better.

On the initial call a prospective client will outline what he or she would like to see as result of hiring an executive coach – more money, more time, a promotion, a relationship, a career change, new leadership skills, a greater ability to influence, better fitness, more meaning and balance in their life.

I then brief them on my coaching style, how phone coaching works, explain the prep forms I’ll email out and the mindset required for an effective session. I book no more than 2 sessions in the first instance (because if you don’t see quantifiable results in that short a time, it’s possible I’m not the coach for (to be fair – this is rare)).

Phone sessions are 30 or 60 minutes, weekly or fortnightly. A review on the quality of a coaching conversation happens every session (takes about 30 seconds) because if it’s not 100% delivering, I want to change that.

With phone coaching anyone can access a great executive coach now whether that coach is in London, Liverpool or a sea-view barn conversion on the Cote d’Azur. It’s more affordable because I can work with many clients in a single working day, which brings my rate down.

If you haven’t already hired your executive coach in Aberdeen (or wherever). Get on with a decent Google search, fire some enquiry emails off and get fast-tracking to where you really want to be.

For more info: http://jenniferbroadley.com/

Successful Leadership – Get Plugged In!

I’ve often heard when working with a corporate leadership client – ‘well I haven’t told anyone I’m working with you – I don’t want them to know there’s a problem’. And I have to ask myself ‘where has this message come from’ because I certainly don’t work with clients because there’s a problem (nor do any of my associate executive coaches) – I work with clients who are whole, capable, already successful AND have unreleased potential.

And here’s the thing – everyone I know has unreleased potential, even the highest fliers in their field – JK Rowling, Bill Gates, Paul Polman (CEO Unilever), Larry Page & Sergey Brin (Founders, Google), Roger Federer – whether sport, business or creative arts there never comes a point when you can say, ‘I know all I could ever know’ or ‘I have contributed all I’m able to contribute’.

The shift I work with my clients on is to become conscious of their infinite power to create and contribute. You see 99.9% of people on our planet don’t yet know that with every thought they think, they create something – thoughts are things. So we meander through life with unchecked thinking - what will I write in that proposal, I wish I had a different boss, wouldn’t it be great to win the lottery, who would I date if I could choose anyone at all, what shall I have for dinner tonight, oh, yes, that proposal – having no idea that these thoughts are creating an attraction to the outcome as we think them.

Also, about 97% of the thoughts that occur in our mind happen at a subconscious level. Anything that has to happen frequently – movement, driving, assessing a persons status, choosing the words we speak out, our emotional response to seeing lovers kissing – is predominantly in the domain of the automated part of ourselves. To actively manage what we’re creating, we have to override some of that automation (where there are limited beliefs) with some new likelihoods.

Infinite possibilities come from our ability to tap into our soul – the design of who we are in connection to all that is. It’s like a toaster plugging into the electricity supply – it can only do what it’s designed to do by having this network of power run through it. And that electricity is always there – just waiting. It doesn’t care if it’s powering a kettle, an iMac, a hairdryer or a mobile phone. It just gives out the essence of what it is to allow a product to be of service.

Same thing applies with Infinite Possibility (or universal potential) – our soul’s the plug by which we get consciously connected to it. And the ‘flow’ we connect to doesn’t make choices around worthiness, status or level to which we aspire; it’s just fully available to everyone  - man, woman, rich, poor, clear, confused, young, old – all cultures, all abilities, all visions.

So when you’re considering what it takes for you to be even more of a successful leader that you already are, ask your executive ‘electrician’ about how to connect your soul to unlimited Source energy. Infinite Possibility is what dynamic, fluent, innovative leadership is all about. Make the shift from unconscious to conscious business leadership; from ambition to meaning; and from seeing problems to acknowledging unreleased potential.

To talk further you can call, email or message Jennifer from www.JenniferBroadley.com .

How to manage conflict at work: Part 1 – the issues

Managing conflict at work can be one of the most valuable skills any leader develops. A team whose differences are respected amongst each other – strengths, work patterns, communication styles, personalities and life choices – is a powerful team. A manager who encourages diversity and is equipped to manage difference skillfully is an asset to any company. 

One of the most stressful things in any professional's life is heading in to work every day knowing that there's someone they have to interact with that will cause them stress. To do this day in day out, for weeks and months on end is like slow torture and can lead to anxiety, sick days and physical and mental health issues. All too often this is not the result of 2 people in a team who can't get on, it's the result of a manager, not being equipped to spot relationship difficulties amongst their people, and if they do spot it, not having the skills to manange the process towards awareness, resolve and active professional development.

I have seen and heard horrific examples of badly managed teams AND badly managed managers. These include:

• public humiliations of jobs done badly around a table of 14 team leaders - a project picked apart in front of peers 'why did it happen?! what were you thinking?! this is worse than useless?!';
• an inequipped manager avoiding a conflict situation in her team, which escalated to a violent outburst followed by one of the 2 parties being signed off work an into a mental health unit for 6 weeks until perspective and stability had been re-established. The investigation focussed on the actions of the 2 employees and not on the manager as requiring intensive further training and development;
• an director who had been with a company for 22 years (expensive to manage out of the business). The turnover in his team was extensive because the managers were constantly fed with non-timely, incomplete information, given little direction, and when a project or task was presented had to repeat or refine it given the new information that only at that presentation was shared by the director. This director played a very political game with the board of the company, discrediting (over time) his managers who ultimately took their skills elsewhere. 

As a corporate and executive coach I mainly deal with high performing, aware professionals whose goal is to be clear about their strengths and their ability to contribute to the maximum in the roles they're in (like a national athlete working ongoing with a personal trainer). However, in at least half of every case I'm asked to consider, a  director or manager want's me to 'fix' a person who reports in to them 'make them see', 'get them to understand how their actions impact the team'.

In these cases I have to explain (sometimes to the point of losing the contract) that if I 'fix' this person without having the ability to coach their manager to increase his/her skills and awareness it's a poor time and money investment for the company. It's like teaching a child cleanliness then leaving them in a home where the parent's shower once a week – it just increases the child's awareness that the culture they live in is not developed enough for them to fully thrive.

The issues for companies with potential conflicts between employees are:

• how to justify the waste of time, money and productivity once a conflict situation gains its full momentum (employees, leaders, human resources, knock on effect to team morale)
• how to skill their staff up to ask for help before a situation escalates
• how to train managers to know the difference between normal creative friction and ongoing, stress-enhancing, harmful behaviour
• how to continue to develop teams and leaders regardless of there being issues and conflict situations (so being proactive in keeping professinalism and awareness high)

In Part 2 of this article I'll highlight the top 5 solutions to managing conflict at work … stay tuned!

 See more at: http://www.jenniferbroadley.com