Who do you want to be?  

What makes you an exceptional leader?  

Imagine that you had one brave wish for your career, what would it be?  

What happens when you read the questions above?   

Your mind is probably drinking in the possibility of something ….more. It’s either exciting or terrifying or a combination of the two.  Pay attention. What do you feel?  

As a coach who works to empower professionals from the charitable sector, I am reminded (almost daily) of the unique challenges that leaders from this industry are faced with.  Your work can be exhausting.   

People got into this business because they wanted to impact lives, create change, and contribute to a  mission, but sometimes all they get in return is the feeling that it is all. Just. Too. Hard.   

That spark that used to drive you to want to do it all, starts to flicker out (or maybe you feel that it is already out).  A  ‘meh’ relationship that you’re not prepared to leave but isn’t really enticing you to stay.  

So how do you move past all of that to become the leader you set out to be?  Conversations that engage, inspire, provide clarity, and most of all: re-ignite.  

Today, with lean budgets and a disengaged workforce, people are combatting burnout and fatigue by investing in leadership coaching for members of their team – or in their own professional development for the year.  Instead of enrolling in a course or workshop, people are choosing to spend their professional development dollars on figuring out who they are and what they want through the process of discovery: initiating a courting process that will allow them to fall back in love with themselves and their work.  

Leadership coaching can be an effective and integral component of leadership development. It facilitates professional growth and helps to build a powerful team, regardless of seniority or position.  

Why it works 

For senior leaders or organizations who provide coaching services as an element of professional development for their team, or for individuals who want to make the case for investing in coaching for themselves, it is helpful to understand exactly how coaching translates to improved confidence, productivity, and professional fulfillment.  

Thankfully, given the increased focus on the profession, research has finally begun to emerge to make the case for coaching. The evidence of the value of coaching reaches beyond just improving productivity at work. Coaching facilitates psychological capital, a positive psychological resource that coachees can apply to their day-to-day work experiences. It is this psychological capital that acts as the linking mechanism between coaching interventions and a host of beneficial outcomes, including job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job performance. 

Across several recent studies, findings suggest that coaching facilitates what’s called PsyCap – “psychological capital”. There are four key dimensions of PsyCap: Self-Efficacy, Hope, Optimism and Resilience.  The coaching process supports all four dimensions and facilitates and encourages self-awareness among up-and-coming leaders. 

As a leadership coach with more than 20+ years of experience working as a fundraiser, manager, and executive director, I am crystal clear on why and how coaching works for all people – but particularly those in the charitable sector. Those of us in the not-for-profit world tend to be motivated by doing good and making positive change through our work.   The thing that really gets us going is impact.  And when we can’t see a direct connection to our mission, we lose interest.  

I invite you to take control of your relationship with your work, and how you see yourself as a leader. Test out the coaching process by booking a complimentary 30-minute session (speed dating for coaching), and learn about my professional development leadership packages, discovery sessions, or one-on-one sessions and how leadership coaching can work for you.  

Together we can re-introduce you to the leader you are and the work that you love.  It is possible to fall back in love with your work, but it’s not going to happen without a little effort and intention.  

Visit marchmanagement.ca to learn more.