Leadership coaching: 5 reasons why you should do it

Leadership coaching: how many of us have tried it? Would you give it a go? For some, there is the concern that attending coaching could signal a lack of confidence in your own abilities, that you are admitting you are somehow flawed. I certainly thought this.

Despite our own doubts, Forbes reported that ‘the number of Google searches for ‘coach’ is up 70%.’ From a growth-mindset perspective, the outlook is sunny, with the Harvard Business Review research concluding that ‘coaching boosts productivity by 44%’. 

This year, I was lucky enough to receive bespoke coaching from Susan O’Connor at Shift Left Limited, an organisation specialising in fulfilling the potential of women in tech, in a way that is authentic to them. And whilst I don’t have personal productivity metrics, I can definitely attest to the benefits of coaching from a confidence and goal-clarification perspective. This clarity has translated into how I approach my work at Signable, enabling me to make more decisive, informed choices in managing projects and ensuring smooth collaboration with the team.

Wondering if coaching might be for you? Read on to uncover five reasons you might want to add leadership coaching to your professional development checklist for 2024.

Finding a leadership coach can also be about finding someone who has even more experience and accomplishments than anyone you know. Susan has an incredible career in IT, leading innovative projects and teams of engineers. Susan is also someone who has broken the mould and started her own company, offering services that advocate for underrepresented groups in the tech industry, as well as raising a family whilst growing her career.

Not only an inspiring leader, Susan also incorporates PowerTypes™, which are archetypes of female leadership that allow women to tap into authentic methods of communication and behaviour that deliver results whilst avoiding burnout. After completing a PowerTypes™ questionnaire, my results revealed that my scores were fairly evenly distributed across all archetypes, with exception to ‘The Queen’.  ‘The Queen’ has a leadership style that is delivered ‘through vision & inspiration’ as opposed to ‘...love and encouragement’ or  ‘invitation’ (examples of the other archetypes). The theory is that every leader has the ability to access all of these leadership styles, yet many may be over- or underutilizing certain styles. 

Using my results as a lens to view my own unconscious decisions and behaviours, I kept a diary of my own triggers and behaviours for a week. During my sessions, I realised that I needed to work on setting clear boundaries and expectations for my own work and that of others.

If I leaned into ‘The Queen’, I would be more comfortable with owning my vision of success, by either delegating tasks or communicating the end goal with the expectation that it would be done, as opposed to being overly nurturing or accepting low value results in order to perceived to be a ‘teamplayer'. Since these sessions, I have seen a marked improvement around how I communicate, which has resulted in my manager commenting on my positivity, resilience and ability to deliver during a very busy quarter.

Firstly, I’d like to say that, as a product manager, I didn’t automatically assume I wore this hat as well.

I am a peer to my colleagues, I ‘manage’ a product and the value it delivers, not people.

Yet for me, the penny dropped last year when a colleague simply said, 

“Emily, we see you as a leader.” I was taken aback. Why?

In my book, I assumed leadership was tied to a high title or conflated with status (neither of which I have), and yet, as it turns out, it is also about yielding influence and guidance by being perceived as a leader.
My approach didn’t change, I just fully realised the gravitas of trust and regard that my company and colleagues had bestowed on me.
And despite earning my degree, a formal vocational software engineering qualification and many other courses, I felt like I hadn’t ‘earned’ the role of leader.

So how would I fully own it?

Leadership coaching is a way of enhancing natural leadership qualities you have without compromising your values or who you authentically are. It helps you to build on skills such as communication, relationship building, stress management, boundaries- all of which help you step into a positive space where you confidently own your space. 

I identify as an underrepresented group in leadership roles as well as in tech, so it’s not surprising that I initially felt a shade of imposter syndrome when I signed up to coaching.
But being a seasoned leader or newbie, an opportunity to self-reflect and focus on areas of optimisation at any stage of your career will improve not only your craft but also how you show up every day. 

For me, coaching was a great investment in how I perceive my role and the impact that stems from my daily work.

We’ve all heard of ‘finding your tribe’. A leadership community?! What’s that? A group of highly motivated, skilled and ambitious people who share common values around professional development, perhaps?
Where do I begin to find this community?
Firstly, find a coach who you can relate to. The coach/coachee (yes, that is a real word!) relationships are so important in establishing a safe space where you can grow and develop.

For me, it was important that my professional values aligned with this leadership coaching style: someone who is empathetic yet authoritative, who drives innovation, builds a professional ecosystem and sparks creative ideas and solutions with anyone I work with.
For lots of reasons, we can often feel like we do not fit the mould and question whether we are right for a leadership position.

Coaching helps you to realise that growing your career is much easier when you have a network of support. Luckily, Susan offers monthly Virtual Coffee Meetups that connect other tech professionals over an informal coffee. This is a great way to meet other professionals in the industry who are also interested in improving themselves via leadership coaching.

Furthermore, I got to speak with tech professionals from across the country in a variety of disciplines, which is a great way of holistically staying on top of industry trends relevant to your role as well as having an overview of what else may be happening in other industries or markets.

Actions speak louder than words- right? Kind of. Many companies have adapted to a spectrum of working environments, ranging from in-person, to fully distributed and hybrid. When body language conveys a range nonverbal signals that help to establish trust amongst peers, how can you do this when you don’t always (or ever) work in the same location? And remote or not, good leadership is very much about conveying confidence through clear communication. 

From Zoom meetings, to Slack updates, to in person workshops, a lot can be communicated that establishes your presence as credible, reliable and consistent.

Take public speaking, for example. I am lucky that I enjoy public speaking and feel quite comfortable doing so in an in-person setting. However, in online meetings, I can find it disconcerting with not being able to see the nuances of the audience's expression, especially if my presentation requires participation. It can be nerve-wracking, especially if there is a pause (which is also quite normal in in-person settings, as people digest information) and I can tend to over-explain or answer my own question to ‘fill the void’. This can lead to my original message becoming diluted and audience members disengaging. 

In leadership coaching, I worked on why this was a challenge for me and found ways to be more confident and concise in my online presentations in simple ways, such as listening to a song before the meeting that boosts my confidence or simply asking a question and waiting for the answer. 

My leadership coaching experience taught me that I was overlooking and not tapping into a lot of natural skills that I have. Susan encouraged me to complete a survey that highlighted areas of my skill set that I have a high affinity to as well as strengths that I underutilised. Through the lens of PowerTypes (mentioned above), we would examine scenarios where I felt that I could’ve achieved a better result and discussed practical ways I could react or communicate if this situation arose again. 

For me, there were lightbulb moments in these conversations. It really highlighted the ways of working I almost unconsciously adopted which were using up valuable energy reserves, such as overcommitting to pieces of work. 

With each week, I completed the reflection exercises that Susan gave me and where relevant, applied new approaches. Not only did it boost my confidence, I also realised that I am actually very resilient to many demands if I communicate and set clear expectations and boundaries.

For many, coaching sessions are also a crucial point of self-reflection that we don’t typically factor into a work schedule. As part of building resilience, it was so important to have this hour dedicated to my personal development as it highlighted the investment I was making in myself and also how much power I have in advocating for my own professional growth.

You may have your mind made up that coaching is for you. But where to begin the search for a coach? How can you prepare yourself? And what are the pitfalls to avoid with coaching?

In my case, my coach approached me on LinkedIn. I liked Susan’s content around self development and authenticity, so agreed to an initial chat to understand more about coaching. Similarly, Emma Dark, founder of Creative Crunch, a Bristol-based marketing and design agency, was approached to work with a business coach from Deloitte through Enterprise Nation after participating in a panel discussion at a business event in Bristol. Emma was impressed that the coaching set-up process was tailored to her own coaching objectives; “Enterprise Nation offered to fund a set number of hours for me, so to ensure a good match, I was asked about my specific objectives for coaching so that they could pair me with someone who could effectively guide me through the process.”

Alternatively, you can also research and select a coach based on areas specific to your skillset. Here are some accessible resources that may support your leadership development journey:

If this is your first experience of coaching, you might be unsure of how best to prepare yourself. Emma Dark shares her recommendations based on her experience of business coaching with Deloitte.“Come prepared! Before booking your first session, take a step back and identify what you want to achieve with your coach. Do you want to gain confidence in your current role? Maybe you need to set some goals and create a clear vision and mission for your business? Or perhaps you want to understand how to secure your dream client? Whatever your objectives might be, write them down and share them with your coach. This allows them to tailor the sessions to your specific aims, ensuring that you get the most out of your time together.” 

Emma also shares a point which I agree with - do your homework! You may be set tasks to do in between sessions. Make sure that you make time for this, as active learning and committing to confidence-building objectives is vital to get the most of each session: “Additionally, you must be willing to put in the work outside of the sessions. Set aside time to invest in yourself and work on the topics discussed during coaching. I’d also suggest keeping a record of everything you do together so that you have something to refer back to and measure your progress against. This can also serve as a guide later on if you want to revisit and reassess something like your goals, for example. Having a 'pack' of what you need to do if you’re faced with similar challenges or questions can be incredibly helpful for future reference.” Thank you, Emma, for sharing your experience and recommendations.

Coaching styles vary and everyone has different goals, but the main pain point many run into is not being prepared to take action and actually do things that will improve the area you want to get better at. My coach, Susan, recommends the following; “To truly benefit from coaching, the coachee must be eager to engage. Coaching isn’t magically happening to you—it’s a co-creation. While the coach provides direction, guidance, and support, the coachee must be ready and willing to embrace that journey, moving forward step by step together.” Yes, coaches are amazing, yet relying on your coach to solely change the course of your professional trajectory is unrealistic. So things like making records of your progress, agreeing a plan of action with your coach or simply setting time aside each week to practise a skill (like public speaking or writing) are all tangible ways you can achieve progress.  

I found my leadership coaching sessions extremely valuable. As my first experience of coaching, I could not have wished for a better coach in Susan, as she shared expert knowledge from her IT career as well as crafted a plan of exercises and assignments to encourage me to reflect on learnings from each session, all whilst being warm and empathetic. Not only do I feel more assured in my role, I feel clear in what I want to achieve, which has also increased my resilience. 

Hopefully, this article has illuminated how useful business coaching can be for female-identifying tech professionals.