The brilliant CEO, the visionary entrepreneur, the artist who takes your breath away…

The emphasis on individual genius looms large in our business and creative culture.

“Who thought of that? Who created that? Who could possibly dream that up?”

But when asked, successful individuals who are candid will demur. Avoiding the temptation to simply bask in their own accomplishments, they are quick to provide inclusive praise to their team, their assistant, their confidant, their mentor.

Is this mere humility or discomfort with the spotlight? No. The truth is, nobody can truly go it alone, not even a genius. Successful leaders embrace this need for partnership and celebrate those who’ve helped them accomplish great things.

Executive coaching is the art and science of helping others achieve their goals. Bringing on board a thinking partner for yourself is an accessible way of extending your reach, augmenting your strengths, resolving your weaknesses.

When done well and fully embraced by an open-minded, talented individual, the results are truly transformative. Executive coaching is a versatile, powerful tool that provides three key benefits:

Outsider Perspective — If you’ve ever worked with an excellent therapist or psychologist, you understand the value of having an objective, outsider perspective on difficult personal issues. Spouses, friends, moms, and dads cannot fill a therapist role, because all have emotional investments in you. An executive coach plays a similar role in your professional life. While most definitely invested in wanting you to succeed, a great coach doesn’t work at your organization and has no particular agenda other than your success. This healthy detachment means I can be candid and real with you.

Advocacy — Self-representation is no way to handle a legal matter. Just like a skilled attorney, your executive coach is your best advocate. Freed from any internal organizational politics, your coach is there for you and you alone. I am there to celebrate and defend you…even and most especially against yourself!

Clarity — Drawing on the above, the greatest gift an outstanding executive coach can provide is clarity, the ability to help you see past the internal and external obstacles, past ingrained thinking, and forward through to new perspective and new understanding. Everybody’s professional situation is different, but harnessing the power of clarity is vital to helping you achieve any goals.

Clarity through coaching is a consequence of a high level of service that combines the outsider perspective and advocacy roles, augmented by another key element: actual real-world experience.

Books and theory have their place in all pursuits, including executive coaching, but when it comes to helping clients achieve, nothing substitutes for actual organizational experience. My clients often think I’m super intuitive, that I just simply “get it.” But that’s a result of decades of experience in a variety of high-level roles at top organizations.

Insight grounded in real-world, practical experience is the hallmark of how Leading Edge Consulting engages with clients. No matter the personal journey you are on, our mission is to provide expertise and perspective rooted in real-world examples. You benefit because we’ve been there, done that.

What kinds of professional challenges are you facing? Let’s connect and have a robust conversation.