Coaching Women on Leadership

Coaching Women on Leadership

By Annette Andrews 

I have been a Coach for a number of years now, working on a global basis; initially as part of my executive roles in global corporate land, and then as a Non-Executive Director and Independent Executive Coach.  I enjoy coaching men and women, however for the purpose of this blog I am going to focus on my experience with female clients. Note there is a slight twist on this at the end !

It doesn’t matter what sector, country, age or level my female coaching clients have been in – there are consistent and reoccurring themes.

Themes

1. Women put a huge amount of pressure themselves to be all things to as many people as possible, in their roles at home, at work and socially. This is often to their own detriment, resulting in feelings of being spread too thin, believing that they are not doing enough in any one aspect and querying how they can do more.

For many this can be become critical for them to explore, be more aware of and actively do something about as when ‘just one more thing’ is added to everything that they are already doing  – it can become all too much.  Recent examples of ‘just one more thing’ have included moving home, parenthood, a change in a personal relationship, a new role or boss.

That ‘just one more thing’ can be the proverbial tipping point for something that was already teetering, but that individuals were not fully aware of, possibly avoiding, and needing to work through.

This in turn then results in a couple of other themes :

2. Women not being able to step back and recognize their achievements to date and the progress they have made, instead they negatively comparing themselves to others and have a feeling of ‘just not being good enough, or ‘not doing enough’.

With a typical response being that they want to take on more, or complete more qualifications to prove something to themselves (and may be to others) that they are doing a good enough job, can compare themselves with others and perhaps then believe they are ready for promotions etc.  But in the meantime, there is that self-doubt and sense of being an imposter – i.e. someone is going to find out soon that I am not good enough or not really qualified to be doing this job or leading this team.

3. There is then an impact on their mental, and often physical wellbeing. That sense of being stretched too thin for too long is just not sustainable without having an impact – often both at work and had home.

This is then further exacerbated by enhanced feelings of self-doubt and a lack of confidence; with individuals sharing a constant feeling of tiredness and the horrible sense of being out of control.   This can be the point when they want to step out of their careers,  not seek further development or promotion opportunities. Stalling their progression.

Coaching helps individuals

• Identify areas of over stretch and lack of confidence and help people proactively manage these.
• Reinforce individual progress and achievements.
• Focus on putting boundaries in place, and prioritising wellbeing.

The above themes can also be integrated into leadership development programmes to ensure that people managers are aware of them, can pre-empt them and be proactive in their approach.

All of which in turn will have its own business case, with the resulting reduction in absence and attrition, plus enhanced performance and engagement;  whilst supporting women as they develop their careers throughout an organisation.

I would argue that if we know these themes are occurring, then coaching needs to be more readily available (as part of a flexible benefits) programme for all; and very specifically put in place to support female employees with key moments of change – e.g. moving into a new company, getting a new role or a promotion, returning to work after a period of leave to ensure that an organisation’s talent is set up for success.  Employers can pre-empt these moments and be proactive in their support, knowing that there is a business case.

Here is the twist, over the last couple of years there has been a change; I am increasingly hearing similar themes with my male coaching clients, with subtly different nuances. A ready-made topic for a future blog!