26 - A love letter (pep talk!) to executive/leadership coaches

Welcome to the business of executive coaching. I'm Ellie Scarfe, an ex lawyer turned executive coach. Over the last 17 years, I've coached in house, I've been an associate coach and I've run executive coaching businesses with teams of coaches around the world. My clients have ranged from global brand names to boutiques, startups and organizations doing good in the world. I now run the Impact Coach Collective, a community of executive coaches who want to level up their business skills and take action in a community of like minded peers. I'm a traveller, a reader, a mum, wife and dog parent, and I know firsthand that our stories have a huge impact on our businesses. The executive coaching business is tough and I've learnt all the lessons through plenty of mistakes and also with some great mentors. This podcast is all about growing a thriving executive coaching business. You can build a coaching business that is profitable, sustainable and that supports your personal goals, whatever they are. I'll be sharing tips and ideas translated for your context, as well as stories from the field with brilliant coaches and mentors. If you want to level up your executive coaching business skills, then this is the place for you. I just wanted to check in today with an episode that has been percolating in my mind for a little while and that I really think is needed. And it's intended to be a bit of a pep talk or a love letter to us as coaches because I think sometimes we need a little reminder of why we are doing this work and sometimes we need some encouragement to keep going. I've been talking to coaches lately and noticing that, you know, coaches, just like our clients, we can struggle with the work, right? It can be heavy emotionally, it can be heavy in terms of the business aspects of coaching, right? So sometimes the issue is not the coaching, but it's the amount of emotional energy that, that we're putting into growing our businesses. And sometimes we're not seeing results as quickly as we wanted it to. So I wanted to save this or record this podcast as a resource that you can come back to anytime you need a bit of a pep talk or you need a little bit of a reminder to just remember we're here and why we're doing what we're doing. So firstly, executive leadership, organizational coaches, whatever your flavour of coaching, your coaches need you. They value you, even if they don't precisely enjoy the experience all the time. The experience of leaders in organizations is, is very difficult and as coaches, a lot of us have been there and our coaches are managing so much in terms of complexity, workload, burnout, Personal challenges, crises that are experience they're experiencing in their organizations, political dynamics and, and often there is no one that they can be open with in the way that they can with their coach. And the value of coaching is not simply the process that you apply when, when you work with them. It is the way you show up to walk alongside your coaches. It is the unconditional positive regard that you are bringing to them. Many coaches will never have experienced the quality of attention that you as a coach are bringing to them. And this is hugely transformational for those individuals and for their work. And we know that their work in their lives will never be the same as a result. The possibilities that they will have as a result are broader and deeper. They will know themselves in a different way. And that is incredible. Secondly, organizations need us as coaches. It is my belief that most organizations and the people in them want to do better. They want their organizations to be sources of positive meaning and a great experience. They want to support their people. Some people might argue that organisations have this sense, but if we think about organizations being made up of people, I think that most people want their workplaces and the companies that they run to be positive for their employees. So a lot of the time we don't see this. It doesn't necessarily translate into tangible outcomes for employees. But I do believe that intention is positive. And what I think coaching is, it's one way that organizations can tactically improve themselves. And so coaching is, you know, as a developmental intervention, it generally means helping our coaches, the individual leaders, to see the world in new and more complex ways. And when those coaches are the leaders within the organizations and they are developing in this way, then we can expect that they will bring the learnings and the new way of viewing things to their roles. And ultimately they will bring those broader perspectives to the strategy and growth. And I don't mean just financial growth, but also, you know, growth in terms of sustainability of the organizations that they're in. And so, you know, there'll be better thought out strategies, there'll be more sense of the impact of their companies on the stakeholders that they have beyond shareholders and clients, for example, communities and supply chains. And you know what? Yes, please. Like, if we have our leaders in organizations who are more mindful of these things, I think it can only be a good thing. Thirdly, I would say that coaches, the world needs you. So I have a bit of a positive psychology and positive organizational scholarship hat that I bring. It's a perspective that I bring to a lot of my work and I firmly Believe again that the work we do as coaches has a positive ripple effect far beyond our coaching sessions themselves. So from our coaches to their direct reports, to our coaches, peers or their managers, to their clients, their other stakeholders, their families and friends and their communities and beyond, when we are creating broader perspectives and even just positive experiences, this flows through as a ripple effect. If we make organizations better places to work through their leaders, then the wellbeing impact of everyone in that organization and everyone that organization touches is improved. And it might not be a huge impact, but it is a cumulative impact that we can see more of the more, the more organizations engage with coaching. So I think, you know, we are making a difference in not just a small way, but, but a broad way as well. And I think that's really cool. But I do know that it can be hard. There are a lot of obstacles to getting out there and working as a coach. Often we think, well, it'd all be so simple if I could just go and do the coaching and then I could have all that impact, you know. So I do hope that if we remember the positive impact that we're having, this can help fortify you to do the work of building a business, which we need to do in order to, you know, really have, have the foundation or have the vehicle that allows us to do the work. And there's no doubt, right, that there is a lot of work to be done if we want to have this impact, right? If we want the outcome that we're seeking from our businesses, we need to embrace sales and marketing regardless of how we feel about it. Because if people don't know us, if the people who buy coaching in the organization, if they don't know us, then they can't possibly engage us to make this difference we know we can make. We must also manage the financials of our business in a robust way, regardless of whether we enjoy it. So our sustainability as a business requires us to know things like how to price our services, how to invoice, how to manage, you know, accounts payable, how to budget, how to reconcile our accounts. We have to do that. We must also be strategic in our investments of time and energy and money in our development, in our systems and in the processes in our business. And we must find a place where we can embrace this second identity of being a business owner so that we get to do this work over the long term. And you know, to be honest, I want coaches not just to tolerate these non coaching parts of business, they should be enjoyable, right? Working on our businesses can be really Fun, especially if we do it in community with others. So as you think about, you know, what are the things that you need to do in order to build this sustainable business platform that will allow you to have an impact as a coach? You know, how can you do those things in a way that is enjoyable for you, in a way that you, you find to be, to be fun? So, yep, you are going to be on a roller coaster. And I hear this so much from, from coaches, is that you can feel great one day and you can feel absolutely terrible the next. And it's true. The good months, the good weeks are great, right? We sign new clients, our coaches have great outcomes, there is money coming in the door, and the bad months can feel awful. You might feel like you're never going to get another client. I've definitely been there. You might feel like you just can't see way through with a particular coachee. You might have a week or a month with no income at all and that, that's really common. But if you keep taking strategic action, just keep moving, you will get new clients, you will get magnificent feedback from your coaches or your clients that catches you by surprise. You will have your best month ever, just when you thought it couldn't happen. And that is what will keep you going. And so it's okay to have hard days, hard weeks, hard months. I still do. I don't know any coaches who don't. We are human. We're having a human experience and we're having an extra human experience, I would say, through running a business. But don't let it derail you. Keep going. And it can help to come back to remembering what your personal goals are. Why did you start your coaching business? Was it to replace your corporate income? Was it to be much more flexible with life and work? Was it to make a difference to people in a particular demographic that you care deeply about? Make sure you come back to your goals and your hopes and the boundaries that you know were important to you that led you down this path. You know, ideally I would say write them down on a daily or weekly basis to remember why you are going to get back on the horse every time things feel hard, why you'll get back to your outreach processes, why you get back to writing LinkedIn posts. Even when you, you have a day, a really hard day or even a hard week where you fall off, fall off the horse, you're going to get back on because you know why you're doing it, because it's worth it and you are making a difference. Look I hope. I hope that's helpful. I know for some people that's absolutely what you need to hear if you want to have a chat about your business and maybe the challenges that you're having in your business, or the goals or the hope you have for your executive coaching business. In the show notes, I'm going to put a link just to set up a quick call. It doesn't have to be a very long one. Let's just talk. No agenda. I just want to hear how you're going and if I can give you a pep talk, I'd really like to do that. But have. Have a good week and I really hope that, yeah, you keep coming back to it. Remember what we're here for. Okay? See ya. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Business of Executive Coaching. If you found it helpful, please share it with a colleague or friend on LinkedIn. And don't forget to tag me so I can say thanks. I would be tremendously grateful also if you would leave a review on Apple Podcasts. More reviews means more people can find us. This episode was brought to you by the Impact Coach Collective, where executive coaches grow their businesses in a community of peers with business education, mentoring, deal clinics and more. If you'd like to contact me or work with me further, all my free resources, courses and more info on the Impact Coach Collective can be found@elliscarf.com have a brilliant week and I look forward to talking to you again soon.