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Should You Engage a Communications Coach?
What Differentiates Communications Coaching from other Types of Coaching Programs?
By Suzanne Bates

You hear a lot about coaching, but what differentiates an executive coaching program in communications? There are some significant differences. While many executive coaches focus on skills such as managing people and making good decisions, few actually have the depth of experience to coach clients in the communication skills that they need to be effective in their roles. While they often identify communication as an issue for their clients, many coaches either provide it as part of a package of skills, or more likely, rely on outside experts to work with their clients in this specialized area.

Why is it important? On your way to the top, you've probably seen that management skills are important, but they can only take you so far. To be at the top of your industry or profession, you must be able to communicate like a leader. In survey after survey, the number one skill determined to be indispensable to leaders is communication. And interestingly, this is the one area that holds many executives back. Many assume that you have to be born with this talent. However, that's not the case. It's a skill that you can learn.

Leaders must be able to communicate and drive business results. This means they must be exceptionally skilled in articulating a vision, and driving it down through the organization. They need to master every forum and channel of communication. In order to influence people, motivate them to take action and ignite passion in your organization, you owe it to yourself to become the best communicator and leader you can be.

One of the things that I'm always sure to emphasize to our executive coaching clients is that you don't have to be a natural born speaker to develop a compelling communication style all your own. There's not a one size approach to developing your own communication style. In order to find your own authentic voice, you have to practice and master certain skills and approaches. In a communications coaching program you will learn precisely where your strengths and needs for development are, when it comes to communication. You'll see through the assessment process and goal setting how easy it is to take your skills to a whole new level.

As you know, communication is essential to good leadership. That's why it's vital to be a confident, exceptional presenter, in formal and informal situations. Once you master this skill, you feel tremendous confidence, every time you walk into a room. While it may seem like successful leaders possess this remarkable gift for inspiring and motivating people, it's not true. They have focused on gaining experience and they have sought out people who can help them improve their skills. They've challenged themselves to learn and along the way they've sought advice from colleagues, mentors and coaches who can help.

In coaching executives in communication skills, I've found that most people have tremendous upside potential - no matter what your skill level - there are always new skills that you can learn and insights you can gain that will make you even more effective as a leader. As you become an exceptional speaker and communicator, you become a powerful force of influence within the organization. Influence doesn't come from your title; it comes from the ability to articulate a big idea, inspire others with that idea, motivate people to take action and focus the organization on a specific outcome that is meaningful. Good communication skills help you bring together an entire organization around a common purpose, to achieve real business results.

The most important function of good communication is to translate ideas and concepts into action. As a leader you can't do the work - you can only motivate and inspire others to do the work of the enterprise. You can transform an organization simply by uniting them around a single purpose and helping them see how to act in a way that moves everyone toward a goal.

When you seek out a coach to work with you on communication skills, you should never consider it to be a remedial exercise. First, you've spent your entire career becoming knowledgeable about your business. You've learned to manage people and processes; you've earned the right to lead an organization or team; you probably communicate quite well in many situations; otherwise you wouldn't be where you are today. You don't get to this point without knowing your stuff without others seeing your potential. When you seek out coaching at any point in your career - you're simply saying you want to be the best you can be - a great leader - who sets the organization on a course and makes things happen.

When I wrote my first book, Speak Like a CEO (McGraw Hill 2005), I had been coaching for about four years, and I was struck by how little formal training leaders had in public speaking and communication skills. Some had never attended any formal classes or worked with a coach. Some had been through a day or two of group training. Yet they were now expected to speak effectively to large groups, deliver keynotes, sit down with clients in challenging situations, present to the board of directors, give interviews to news reporters, and manage high pressure communications during a crisis. I realized there was a need to provide a coaching program that focused solely on communication and leaders - to provide information and skill building beyond the basics. This is the idea upon which we developed our communications coaching program, which has continued to evolve as we work with high level executives who need sophisticated approaches to managing complex communications.

Most leaders will tell you that while they can get by, they don't always feel as confident or prepared as they would like. This is partly because they haven't had an opportunity to really develop the skills and strategies to approach these situations. Coaching can help you do that. A great coach becomes your partner in helping you meet new challenges. The coach can also help you put together a team of people to support you in this.

You've probably seen leaders who speak well -- and admired their style. Yet if you analyze good speakers you'll note that they're really all very different. The best speakers are authentic - true to themselves- and they project this on the platform. There is no one way; you have to understand the techniques of presenting and communicating effectively and adapt them to be authentically you.

In a communications coaching program, you discover this authentic style and voice. You learn skills and approaches that work. You figure out how to apply these in a variety of situations, so you develop confidence no matter who you're speaking to, how large the crowd, how tough the audience, or how much is riding on the outcome. Think of a coaching program as a way to learn the rules of the road and then get out there for a few test drives on the highway.

We work with our clients in real time on events and projects on their calendars, so they're able to get things done quickly and efficiently, and apply them to real time situations. Some of the skills you might want to work on with a coach would include how to:

Here, I'd like to offer 6 tips on how to assess whether a communications coaching program would benefit you.

Tip #1: Ask a Trusted Advisor

Most of us have someone, and I hope you have several "someones" who have your interest at heart. These are people who want you to succeed, who believe in you, and who can also tell it like it is, while also providing you with constructive guidance and support. If you there isn't someone like this in your professional life, then it is time to find that person. Cultivate those relationships. A trusted advisor can help you see yourself as you are today, and get you on the right path to realize your full potential.

Ask the trusted advisor about your communication and leadership skills. Push them to be specific. Have them share examples of what you do well and what you could do better. If you are interested, we have a complete trusted advisor survey, which was published in my first book Speak Like a CEO. We would be pleased to send you this survey. Simply email info@bates-communications.com and ask for the Trusted Advisor Survey.

Tip #2: Review Your Professional Development Plan

If your company provides professional development opportunities, part of that should be helping you determine your strengths and needs and putting together a plan. If you review the feedback you've received during the process of putting together your plan, there should be references to communication. Most of what is covered in these plans relates to communication in one way or another. Review it with a fresh eye to see if you can gain some new insights about the communication skills you need to develop. Sometimes you may read feedback, set it aside, and forget about some of it. It can be useful to go back and read feedback, even if it is a year or two old. You may find that while you've addressed some issues, you have other skills you want to develop now, which means communications coaching could be an excellent solution.

Tip #3: Look at Leaders You Admire

Often when executives come into a coaching program, they tell us about leaders they work for or admire, who are outstanding communicators. It has become clear that perhaps all that is standing in the way of having the big job someday are the presentation and communication skills that set this leader apart. If you watch leaders you admire, you'll probably find they stand out not only because of their strategic vision and business acumen, but also because they know how to stand and deliver a message that motivates and inspires others. As I've already discussed, this isn't magic. So look at what they do, and consider what you'd like to be able to adapt as your own. If you find yourself wishing you could stand on stage and deliver like they do, you're a candidate for communications coaching.

Tip #4: Assess Your Comfort Level

If you find that in certain situations you're not as comfortable as you'd like to be, it's probably because you either haven't had much experience, or you've avoided those things. A good example might be speaking in a large group; or developing and communicating a vision for the organization; or handling tough Q & A from analysts or the media. When your comfort level isn't high, it's just because you haven't taken the time to develop the skills and strategies that will make you effective.

If you notice you're becoming nervous, self conscious or just not enjoying certain situations, these are good indications that you could benefit from coaching on these specific skills.

Tip #5: Ask Yourself What You Want to Achieve

Looking down the road, where do you imagine yourself? Imagine yourself three to five years from now. It's not out of the question that you could have the job of your dreams. As you move up in your organization and industry, the competition does become a factor - everyone at this level has business and technical skill, as well as the maturity and temperament to lead. So what's it going to take to stand out in the crowd? What are the skills that would set you apart from the rest? If you believe they are communication skills, this is another indicator that coaching is a good place to invest your time and energy right now.

Tip #6: Look Back on What You "Did" to Get There

An exercise I find enormously valuable is to imagine that I've already arrived at a goal. It's been a successful year, or I've attained that thing that was important to me - how did I do it? The perspective of already having accomplished something is a very powerful one. It clears the clutter from your thinking about where you are presently - you are able to imagine having overcome the obstacles and they just don't seem as great. As you imagine this, imagine you had a coach working with you side by side on the communications side of your business or career. How much of a difference did it make? Was a partner one of the keys to your success? If this gives you a positive feeling, then you're probably ready for a coach.

In Summary

In my experience, nobody ever gets where they want to be alone. Successful people seek out the help they need and take advantage of the opportunity to learn from others. You've probably been a coach and mentor to others; and you owe it to yourself to give yourself the same gift - a chance to realize your potential, to accelerate your career, and to enjoy what you do every day. These are some of the most powerful reasons for bringing a coach into your life. If you are interested in discussing how coaching would work for you, please let us know. Email us at info@bates-communications.com and we'll be very happy to set up a complimentary 30 minute call to discuss your goals. Or, sign up for my complimentary teleseminar on Executive Coaching - May 12th, 4 - 5 PM Eastern. Just call 781-235-8239 or email Meredith O'Connor at info@bates-communications.com, and we'll give you the details to call in!



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Testimonials

"As a result of Bates' training…our executives are far better communicators than ever before, and the results show in our increasingly positive press and ability to move these audiences to action."

Matt Davis,
Corp. Director of Executive Communications,
Dow Chemical Co.


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