You’re leading a creative team and the business is demanding you perform as a corporate executive. The pressures are relentless and, frankly, no one around you really understands what you’re dealing with. So where do you even start looking for the right Executive Coach and how do you avoid wasting time and money on the wrong one? This article is for Senior Leaders in Creative Industries. If you are a senior leader in a design studio, advertising agency, entertainment company, tech studio or production house, you need to know that executive coaching for creative leaders is a very different proposition from standard corporate coaching. Let’s take a deep dive: what is Executive coaching exactly and how can it be personalised to your needs?
What Executive Coaching actually is and what it isn’t
Executive coaching is designed for those in senior positions of management, C-suite executives, creative directors and team leaders at all levels of the organisation. According to the International Coach Federation, it’s a confidential, personalised self development process to help improve the Executive’s quality of work. Results can help a senior leader to expand their impact, sharpen their decision making and boost their team leading skills so they can lead with authenticity and influence.
One of the main characteristics is that it’s all about the person, not the business. A typical coaching session might look at team leading skills, relationships with those above or below in the hierarchy; or even looking at personal challenges outside the workplace that may be affecting your performance. There is great value in bringing an Executive Coach in from the outside to work with you independently. That way, you are not judged by what is challenging you and can be confident your vulnerabilities will not be spread as gossip. You can safely identify, address and resolve these challenges so that your workmates only see the improved results once you are clear of the obstacle.
Coaching works by questioning to help you think about topics from a new perspective. It’s not necessarily about mentoring. So, the coach doesn’t need to have experience in your specific job. The coaching sessions are structured to cover between one and three topics in a session – depending on how deep you want to explore – and allows you to come out at the end of a session with some actions to take and a results driven agenda.
Within a block of sessions, goals are set which you and the coach strive to complete within a specific time such as 6 months or 12 months. With a deadline in mind, there is a forward driving motion that prevents you getting stuck in dwelling on history.
Something I have found fascinating with neuroscience conversations: Even when the client knows of an issue from the past which has held them up in the same way for many years, the coaching can help them side step past the obstacle. No need to bash the obstacle to death or wage war to overcome it. Once the side step is achieved, only then, does the client look backwards and, in hindsight, see what was holding them up.
- Coaching isn’t therapy. We aren’t here to spend months and months talking about the past. In a coaching session you look at where you are now and where you want to go.
- Coaching isn’t mentoring where you are told what to do. Coaching is all about helping you find your own solutions which is far more empowering.
- Coaching isn’t consulting either. This is a different kind of work where you hire a consultant to do work for you.
We don’t always know the result that will come out the other end, nor do we know how it will be achieved. That is the magic of a great coaching conversation!
So, now you’ve looked at what general Executive Coaching is. Here’s where things get different when you work in a creative industry.
Why creative industry leaders need a different kind of Executive support
Many executive coaches learn the same type of questioning processes that address how the brain works and what might be needed to draw it forward towards the goal. However, I noticed in the training that it doesn’t address how very differently one brain might work in comparison to another. For example, someone who works a logistics type role where they are focussed on order and numbers and profit margins; often has a very different brain from a leader who got to where they are in the company because they used chaos and creative thinking to stand out.
Along with the all important chaos (yes, it is important) comes emotions, innovation, thinking outside the box, temperaments, gut instinct that has no logical explanation but is right every time, creative flow of new ideas…. These character features can enhance a creative’s performance. If any of these stop working, like a writer’s block, it can stunt or even kill a career. Nobody wants that! Finding the solution to it may be as simple as a long needed holiday but, in order to crank up the creative flow again, you are going to need a special kind of coach. One who understands what you are going through and bends the questioning to match your needs rather than a cookie cutter version of questions.
Leading Creative teams: the challenges no standard management training prepares you for
We’ve talked already about your own temperament and emotions and how critical they are in giving you your creative flare. They also apply to your team. Managing the quiet ones alongside the divas means you need the team leading people skills of 50 skilled psychologists. Are they working well together? Are there conflicts which need smoothing over or completely quelling? Is there someone whose performance has dramatically dropped and they are not being their usual self?
Ordinary executive coaching may not be able to fully understand nor address the fun of managing a team of creatives. Sometimes you feel like you’re herding cats but, in the end, your compassion for what is going wrong and why will make all the difference to how you get your team back on track.
Maybe you were one of the team before as well. It certainly was a lot less responsibility down there, less pressure, for sure. The promotion lead to more money but when the training for leading the team has left you ill-prepared, then a good Executive Coach may be able to guide you towards what you need in your education to fill the gaps.
Decision-making under pressure when the stakes are high and the answers aren’t obvious
Creative industries can roll from feast to famine in a way that regular business does not. (Don’t you wonder if it would be easier working for a toilet paper company, for example? No, me neither.) Sometimes the roller coaster is seasonal and you can prepare for it. Other times, a news article or unexpected change in the world throws the whole industry into a tail spin. When under pressure, the fight or flight way of thinking takes over and it can feel like all the sophisticated parts of your brain shut down.
You may find yourself staring out into space, with derping eyes and not a flicker of an idea of how to move forward. A good Executive Coach can bring you back to your senses and clarify your mind. Self empowerment is the goal of a good coach, teaching you the skills and the tools to help yourself next time you find yourself derping again.
When you are in the thick of the job with all its intricacies, the decisions can be halted by a lack of vision or stagnant mud holding you in place. Your team members can’t necessarily see beyond the detail either because they are right there with you, feet sunk in the mud. A good Executive Coach will lift you out of the quagmire so you can get a higher perspective on the big picture. Coaching conversations are usually not about all the detail. They are about seeing the problem from up above, so you can map out one or more ways to how to move forward.
How Executive coaching addresses the things you can’t say to your team or your board
Executive coaching is very personal. When choosing your Executive Coach, right from the start, think about whether or not you feel you can bare your soul to this person. Could you admit what’s hidden deep beneath the surface? Perhaps a physical health issue, a mental health issue, trouble at home. Can you trust them to withhold judgement, keep the confession confidential and help you to address the situation?
(NB – the only time this cannot be kept confidential is when a crime is being committed and others are being harmed.)
Building trust with your coach makes the difference between good results and outstanding results. The more you can offload means the burden is shared and you have someone on your side to help you through. For example, I know I’ve had a number of clients talk to me about addiction. One surprising result we found was, when we worked on the thought patterns they were trying to escape, the addictions disappeared. I can’t guarantee that for everybody of course, but the potential is there when the coaching conversation is deep and trust is complete.
Another example I had was when an Executive coaching client was suffering from professional burnout. They asked for help because they just didn’t want to be there anymore. You’d think this would be a good reason to leave. However, we worked around the friction, improved the working relationships, conflict resolution and changing attitudes towards team mates. The client was surprised to find she didn’t actually want to leave her job after all and continued after the coaching sessions, staying where she was with renewed vigour, more solid loyalty and much improved performance.
In a different example, the executive was struggling with a new supervisor who was deeply insecure. The supervisor seemed to be suffering from imposter syndrome and regularly blamed her team members for her failing results. Everyone on the team was on edge as to who would be removed first. In the coaching sessions, we did work on improving this relationship but, in the end, my client chose to ask to be moved to a new team which vastly improved her state of wellbeing and consequent quality and quantity of work.
The goal of everyone in the hierarchy is to be placed in a position where they feel safe, heard and valued. Executive coaching can improve these metrics when the opportunity is given to coach different levels of the hierarchy. Then it can be seen more clearly whether a juggle of positions will allow each team member to do their best work.
Scaling a creative business without destroying what made it good
An MBA is great for learning how to scale a business in terms of profit and numbers. Creative businesses are not usually built for the purpose of profit alone. Great ideas, high integrity and unbeatable customer service makes a company memorable. Seeing what is valuable – including employees – may be a very different viewpoint depending on whether you see the big picture or are a bean counter.
An Executive Coach with a background in the creative industries can see the value you hold as important. They can help you to prioritise what to keep, what can slip and what can be expanded.
What to look for in an Executive Coach and the questions worth asking before you commit
Here are some guidelines you can think about as you begin your search:
- Does this coach have the credentials? Search “coach” on LinkedIn and you’ll find around 4 and a half million results now compared to around 61,000 in 2016. The schools teaching coaching distort their credentials using words like “Master” for someone who’s just done a 6 month course or even just a weekend bootcamp. ICF Certification with the International Coach Federation is a good start. It has a specified level of measurable skill and minimum number of hours needed to complete before a coach can get their basic accreditation. Take a look at the rest of the Coach’s life too. Do their study interests feel in alignment? These all contribute to a unique method of working which can make one Coach stand out compared to the rest.
- Do they have a clear methodology they can actually explain? When the accredited training is completed, a Coach should be able to fully explain the structure and sequence you can expect from your sessions. That’s not to say it is fully predictable. A beginner will follow the method without variation. An experienced Coach will use the methodology most of the time and then be able to draw on a large collection of tools depending on your need in the moment.
- Does this Coach work with people like you? Here is where the way of thinking and understanding makes one Coach give you mediocre results and another outstanding results. They may not have done your exact job but you’ll be wanting someone who coaches clients that tackle problems like yours. Creative professionals – agency founders, studio heads, directors and other senior creatives work differently from the corporate world. Check to make sure the Coach you want to work with has some understanding of your world. Ask them if they’ve worked with creative clients and how that was different from coaching corporate clients. Their answer will tell you a great deal.
- Does this Coach have the sort of personality I can relate to? Are they open, honest, likeable, trustworthy? You’re going to be spending a lot of time with this Coach so, getting along well with them is important as well as feeling you can trust them when they stretch you beyond what you might feel you could achieve on your own. They have to be able to encourage you when you need it and challenge you when you want to take a big step forward.
- Does this Coach have it together themselves? If a Coach looks like they do not yet have their own life together, think about whether they are going to be able to help you with yours. We all need to continually improve ourselves. Ask if they have a Coach themselves.
- Is this Coach caught up in the detail and the numbers? You want to find yourself a Coach with whom you feel comfortable talking about relationships and other personal issues that may be affecting your performance. Are they a people person? Are they likely to bolster your confidence and side with you when everything turns pear shaped?
- Can you trust this Coach to be confidential with your conversations? It’s part of the code of ethics and you will want to ask your prospective Coach how they plan to preserve your privacy. Check to see what will be disclosed to your HR department or your managers before you start. Ask if you can choose what is disclosed.
- Does this Coach have verifiable results? Look beyond testimonials to say someone is likeable and has good conversations. Are the results there that make you confident they’ve helped clients like you break through the barriers and achieve more than they could on their own.
- Direct conversations: You can look forward to some challenging conversations during your sessions. Is your Coach able to cope with a challenging one about themselves before you start? You want to be able to ask anything from this list and them not be rattled by having to answer.
- Back to the methodology, can your Coach distinguish between mentoring, coaching and consulting? Ask them which they do.
For my own methodology, I tend to use integrative coaching. That is, a mix of coaching, mentoring, managing, training etc. I will draw upon whichever “hat” will be most useful in the moment, asking if you are happy for me to step away from coaching for a short while. I will often tell you which hat I’m wearing before I start the next part of the conversation. You might also ask me to put on a specific hat to best aid the next step.
When you are having that first discussion with a prospective Coach, listen to see if they are spending most of their time pitching or are they asking you questions. When it’s your turn to ask the questions, are you getting a clear answer or something altogether too vague? When you find a good Coach, they are unlikely to be desperate for your business. They will be looking for someone they want to work with and can pick and choose as they please.
Once you get started, it’s worth setting your own gauges to decide if your conversations are making a positive difference each and every time. The results might be quantifiable, but they might also be less tangible around things like how confident you feel about your way of thinking, has the stress reduced, are you more clear on how to proceed, do you have new tools you can use in other instances. Feel free to journal these after each session when they are fresh in your mind – or at least at the end of the working day. Then you can look back on your journey as you reach the next milestone. It’s always interesting to gauge when there’s a bit of a plateau in your results and when you are truly flying into the stratosphere.
If any of this resonates with you and you’d like to explore a conversation with me to see if you and I are a good match for Executive Coaching, a free discovery call is a great place to start. No commitment, no obligation, no sales script. Drop me your contact details on the Contact page and let’s set up a time to talk.