Improving CEO Performance with a Business Coach or Mentor
20th May , 2019
To succeed as a CEO is an ultimate business and career success objective, and at the top of the corporate ladder, it is the position most sought after. Yet the step up to the CEO position is not always straightforward and usually comes with many foreseen and unforeseen challenges. A business coach or mentor from International Business Mentors can guide you through the transition process and help you navigate the many challenges that stand in your path.
The Challenge of Transitioning into the role of CEO
If you’re transitioning into the role of CEO or trying to improve your performance as the CEO, then you have your work cut out for you. You will have new major responsibilities and great pressures to perform, such as delivering business growth strategies and financial results, growing markets, keeping customers happy, negotiating with suppliers, and working hard on all of your employees and your target culture to sustain performance, all while managing the day-to-day issues and cash flow.
There may be gaps in your knowledge or expertise, necessitating a confidential sounding board to run ideas, problems or possible solutions past. The problem is you may not be able to discuss these with colleagues, employers or board members. One solution is a confidential business coach or mentor from International Business Mentors.
A successful CEO must have a passion for the business and have a deep seeded desire for success. They need to understand the privileged position of CEO that they hold. Senior leaders who have recently become a CEO can seriously benefit from the confidential support of a suitable business mentor or coach who has firsthand experience and understands the challenges of being a CEO, allowing them to fill in gaps in experience that the CEO faces in their new role.
How Business Coaching Can Help
CEOs often lack confidential and trusted support from within their organisation and often feel that it is ‘lonely at the top’. Sometimes they just need to discuss particular concerns in detail with someone who has experience in a specific area of business, or just share their new ideas with an understanding confidant. An experienced business coach or mentor can share the benefit of their business experience, lend a sympathetic ear, give feedback, and challenge and support CEOs.
Other significant areas that business coaching can help with include developing leadership skills, improving decision making, improving interaction with the Board and reporting, considering better team building, and improving relationships with their Board, senior executives, staff, customers and other stakeholders. A business coach or mentor can also assist with forecasting, planning business growth strategies, and setting the target business culture.
Some critical areas that a professional business coach or mentor from International Business Mentors will work on with CEOs to increase their performance include:
- Leading by example
- Setting the vision
- Being visible leaders
- Monitoring processes
- Understanding and using the financial information to support decision making
- Providing better support for key employees
- Improving listening skills
- Developing better thinking frameworks for decision making and improved judgement
- Honing communication skills
- Proactively assessing and managing business risks where possible
- Implementing better corporate governance
Learning on the job is a constant dynamic for successful CEOs, whereby they better manage and lead the organisation in many different and challenging business situations and strategic directions.
“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” ~ John F. Kennedy
Succeed as a CEO with International Business Mentors
Business coaches and mentors can be an extremely important and beneficial resource for a CEO. A business coaching professional from International Business Mentors offers a direct route in learning from their business experience, providing a CEO with a wealth of experience, wisdom, counsel and support from an independent perspective in a confidential setting.
To help you succeed, a mentoring relationship needs to be based on trust and the sharing of information, ideas, experiences and skills in a confidential and supportive environment. At International Business Mentors, we match business mentors and coaches to individual CEOs, taking into account the CEO’s specific needs, issues and challenges.
Call International Business Mentors today to find a great business coach or mentor.