Executives leverage their experience, intelligence, people skills, and fearlessness to lead others. It’s an honor to be an executive who leads their people with ambition and passion.

If an executive leader is supposed to be fearless, why is it that many CEOs and C-Suite leaders fear failure? In fact, 90 percent of CEOs possess a fear of failure beyond all else.

If you’re an executive that finds yourself worried or losing sleep over the possibility of failing, then you should enroll in executive leadership training. Many CEOs attend executive leadership training to help eliminate their fears and boost their confidence so that they can better focus their time and effort.

It’s about making a positive impact on your organization.

If you think that leadership training can help you or a colleague, you’ll want to make sure that you get the most out of it before you sign up. Here are some learning tips we recommend for getting the most out of an executive training program.

Executive Leadership Training That Sticks

A recent study says that 55 percent of CEOs see leadership development as a top challenge for them.

If you are going to invest your time in leadership training, you want the training to be something you can maintain and execute upon. This means you’ll want the right components in place, including support from both leadership and employees. It also helps if you have the right tools.

If you are concerned that it will give you a lot of good information, yet you won’t be able to remember it, here is advice on how to help your leadership training stick.

Learning Tips

First, anytime you are learning something new, it is a continuous process. Cramming, even repetition, won’t lead to the change you are seeking overnight.

What you learn in your executive leadership training is something that starts in class, but it does not end there. It helps to think of it like this: the classes are for understanding new concepts, therefore learning begins after class is over, and that is where the effort kicks in.

Adapting a new skill in your career is a lot like training to build your muscles. One conditioning class will not transform you into a bodybuilder. You can’t enter a triathlon after joining a cycling class only two times.

Training for a marathon, like leadership, takes time.

Build Upon Your Executive Leadership Skills

There needs to be a consistent effort to train your leadership skills (like muscles). Remember, that’s how the human brain works. To learn any new skill, you must work at it consistently.

The longer you apply your executive leadership training, the stronger you will become. Effort forms executive leadership development. Practice does too.

You may wish for instant results, yet unfortunately, that’s not how it works.

Avoid Cramming

Cramming isn’t practical for learning in the long run. That’s why we recommend you space out your executive leadership training. It’s good to take in pieces of information over time and not overwhelm yourself with too much that you can’t remember.

To take this approach, break up the learning sessions. This helps for steady reinforcement.

We also recommend beginning learning in advance. If you know what the topic is for your next class, do a little research at home, or work, and come to your next class prepared with a little background.

Take Time to Reflect

After you learn an additional part of the executive leadership skills, it’s good to take some quiet time for yourself to reflect. Give the information consideration separate from everyone else. Taking in the new information helps you connect with its meaning.

John C. Maxell said it best when he said, “Reflective thinking turns experience into insight.”

What Matters Most

The results of a recent study found that participants of a leadership training program improved their performance by 20 percent and their learning capacity by 25 percent. One method to get the most out of executive leadership training is by what you refer to as “distillation.”

When you are in leadership training, distilling means you focus on the pieces of information and concepts that matter most to you. Remembering every word is difficult. However, the critical take always helps you improve your leadership skills.

As you are learning, when you hear or read something of value or meaning, write it down. Review it again after class. When you find that something resonates with you, then it will stick.

A Changing Business Landscape

It’s no secret that The Great Resignation has altered the business landscape. As of December 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that almost 4.3 million workers in the U.S. quit their current job. Also, from January to November 2021, approximately 1,200 CEOs abandoned their posts.

Reports from Apollo Technical also say that only about 11 percent of HR leaders think their bench is strong enough to take on leadership roles as they become open. Combining this issue with The Great Resignation, executives and CEOs have an uphill battle to fight.

Don’t let the changes to the job market and economy cause you concern, however. What you need is powerful executive leadership training to build brilliant leaders in your organization.

Ready to Start Executive Leadership Training?

A leadership and communication incubator, Excelerate helps executives every day to be more strategic and perform at their highest levels. Imagine the results your business will reap from our leadership training and practice.

If you want to lead at your highest level, you need to contact us. At Excelerate, we are experts in executive leadership training, and we specialize in helping your leaders be more effective and boost confidence. Reach out today and begin your journey toward doing a better job leading right now.

If you find that the leaders at your organization have one or more weaknesses that are affecting the performance of your business, including causing challenges for your company’s culture, don’t fret. There is a silver lining.

You don’t need new leadership; you need training. What you need is an executive leadership program.

Training is often not top of mind, yet it should be. Our careers, no matter your experience or job title, are constantly changing. We all desire ways to learn and upskill. 

A recent study suggests that around 10% of people have natural leadership ability. It also shows that another 20% of people demonstrate some basic managerial talent qualities which an organization can cultivate. They have the ability to become high-quality leaders.

If you are looking into an effective executive leadership program for your company, consider some of these qualities that will help you get the most benefit. Let’s discuss this in further detail to help give you better insight. 

Why Enroll in an Executive Leadership Program?

We define executive leadership as the ability of executives to guide and influence the direct reports and the people they manage. Executive leaders often oversee strategic planning and overall decision-making. They fulfill the goals of the business.

An executive leadership program improves the skills of your executive leaders with their strategy and how they work with people. Executive leadership skills differ from that of a manager or anyone else in the organization. It requires a distinct set of coursework and coaching.

1. The Program Challenges Your Executives

When researching executive leadership training to find the best program for your people, you’ll want to ensure that it will challenge your leaders. The content of the courses should teach executive leadership skills that can lead to solving complex business issues. Not only that, but they should be challenges that are useful to your unique business.

Executives should think outside of the box throughout the courses. It should stretch their minds. Effective executive leadership coaching teaches leaders to look for unconventional solutions to bring about positive outcomes for their company.

2. The Program is Engaging

Often, executive leadership skills training that offers hands-on development is more engaging to your executive/student. This means that assignments should be thought-provoking. Leadership can engage with their program when they have lively discussions that involve real-life case studies.

3. Multi-Dimension Delivery

When finding an executive leadership program to participate in, be sure to look for one that offers a variety of modalities to accommodate various learning styles. Everyone has a preferred method of learning, and by creating a multi-dimension delivery, participants are able to fully grasp and unlock leadership techniques. 

These modalities are where executives can grow and gain experience. At Excelerate, we utilize multiple modalities. For example, all participants partake in an assessment period, a visual modality. Assessments are given to help benchmark and know where he or she stands in various elements of their leadership. It’s an opportunity to let them know what areas you expect them to work on. Our 1:1 coaching sessions, group coaching sessions, peer engagements, and workshops are a few other modalities that serve our clients and cohort participants. 

4. Offers Executive Leadership Development

Teaching a course is one thing. Executive training must go beyond teaching and into leadership development, a highly sought-after quality of executive leadership training.

Practice makes perfect and will hone your new executive leadership skills. Gaining more knowledge and putting their new skills to work is what will set your executives apart, including from that of your competitors. Your executives will have a better foundation created to lead your business in the long run.

5. The Value Will Last

This brings us to the next fantastic quality of effective leadership programs. It’s that the value is both immediate, and it lasts.

That’s why executive leadership consulting recommends you learn from relevant, real-world projects. This is how you can achieve immediate value from the program.

The major benefit that most companies are looking for is that their leadership will learn meaningful concepts that they can apply. The strategies they apply benefit the entire organization, not just the executive alone.

6. Executives Learn How to Overcome

Executive leaders face business challenges. It is part of the responsibilities of the job. Finding solutions can be difficult.

Another wonderful quality of an executive leadership program is that executive leaders learn how to equip themselves to overcome business challenges. It teaches your executives how to reach new heights.

7. Creates Sustainable Value

Forbes reports that U.S. companies will spend $166 billion annually on leadership development. This is because it is about more than just the executive. Executive leadership skills training has a positive effect on the entire business.

Execute leaders learn how to form better strategies and the best way to implement them. Leadership also gets a better understanding of how to increase teamwork and people’s productivity.

“A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better,” said Jim Rohn, an American entrepreneur.

When executives learn how to engage their people better and create strength in teamwork, they improve company culture and reduce turnover. When you offer employees a better company culture, you can likely reduce spending on recruitment. It is more expensive to replace a worker than to keep one.

Executive Leadership Coaching that Delivers Results

Your leaders are bright, and we can help them be brilliant! Excelerate has high-touch experiences with innovative science and technology to make your executives be more effective in their roles. Thinking, behavior, and results improve from our amazing development programs.

We are forward-thinking just like you. Join our executive leadership program that offers unmatched development. Contact us today for more details.

Excellent executive training programs work toward teaching executive leadership how they can navigate business objectives down the best path, leading teams to success. It’s not about taking shortcuts, yet it teaches executives how to avoid unnecessary roads. It’s about being an effective leader.

If you are seeking professional leadership development for your executives, there are certain things you can expect from a c-level curriculum. Here are just some of those skills. 

Time to Improve Your Senior Leadership Skills

Executive education programs help the c-suite do better. It’s not about finding fault or weakness. That’s how people make innovations: by realizing that things are capable of being better.

When you open your mind to possibilities and the opportunity to make changes, the sky is the limit for you and your business. In fact, senior leadership skills are the most critical factor for advancing to an executive role.

Companies are looking for senior leaders who can guide and encourage employees toward success. A c-level executive brings with them their experiences and leverages their knowledge to lead during uncertainty. They take on new challenges with enthusiasm.

It’s very common for new executives to lack the ability to lead with ease, which is why it’s important to invest in improving your senior leadership skills. But remember: improvement takes time, education, and practice. Executive training programs help c-suite individuals refine their senior leadership skills.

Better Change Management Skills

It’s the c-suite that sets the tone for the company and its overall direction, and sometimes the direction must change. Change management skills are a giant plus for an effective leader. When you can identify an opportunity, you can lead your organization down a new path forward. This is a differentiator, as many times people overlook it as a component of executive training.

Broaden Communication Skills

C-suite-level communication skills take time to build. It’s not something we are born with or that we inherit; we build this skill set. Executives need to know how to communicate with employees at every level of their business.

Beyond this, influence and persuasion are what we call power communication skills that help leaders to be successful. These are things that can be a part of your communication skill set.

SMEs (Subject Matter Expertise)

Executives are subject matter experts in certain areas. However, one individual cannot be an expert in everything.

If you know how to manage one or two departments in your business, how much do you know about the other departments that you never had to manage? Each department has its own significant impact.

Here is where you can start. Make a list of the knowledge and skills that you currently possess for the c-suite. Now, look again.

Ask the following question: Are there gaps that may hinder your ability to achieve your goals?

A C-level curriculum can expose you learn new things about areas of your organization that you may not have spent a lot of time in. It fills in gaps. The program will help you improve your expertise and broaden your knowledge in new areas.

Develop Strategic Thinking

Forward-thinking, strategic leadership is a crucial skill that is highly recommended for executive education. This is for a good reason. Strategic thinking and foresight equip executives to ensure the organization has future success.

Part of developing this skill is why executive training teaches subject matter expertise. You’ll need to consider every part of the business to reach the proper conclusion. It’s easy to focus on the parts of the business you have experience in, but that won’t make for successful outcomes.

Understanding your business in its entirety is how executives can be strategic in their approaches and decisions.

Confident Decision Making

One area that many executives can struggle with is making an informed decision quickly. The problem is that often you don’t have all the information you need. This is an important takeaway from the executive training curriculum.

You can still make the best decision for your company. Executive training programs help develop decision-making skills.

Enhance Your Emotional Intelligence

We typically expect executive leadership to have emotional intelligence as one of their better qualities. Emotional intelligence is the ability to manage your own emotions and manage the emotions of the surrounding people. Keys aspects of emotional intelligence include:

• Empathy
• Self-awareness
• Relationship management
• Social awareness

Good executive training programs help develop this important skill. They teach techniques to help you listen, be self-aware and master how to accept constructive criticism.

Know When to Delegate

There are two aspects to learning how to delegate. One aspect is controlling. Sometimes it is difficult for leaders to let go because they must have something done a certain way.

On one hand, you are leaving yourself potentially overloaded with an added task that is taking over the time that you could do something more productive, like being strategic. By not letting go of tasks to other employees, you can create a negative impact culturally.

It may sadden and frustrate employees to feel that you do not trust them, which can hurt company culture.

Be cautious of what work you offload. You don’t want to dump unnecessary tasks either or give the wrong task to the wrong person.

The delegation, done correctly, teaches and develops others in their careers. Executive education programs can offer a curriculum to help you understand how to do a better job delegating. It’s a pillar of superb leadership skills.

Executive Training Programs to Develop C-Suite Leadership

When you are a leader in the c-suite, you take on the responsibility of driving the business in the right direction. You drive in a direction that benefits everyone involved.

Executive training programs offer a curriculum where you can expect to hone in and improve key leadership skills to create better business outcomes. That’s where we come in. Contact Excelerate today and learn more about our executive training curriculum.

There’s a lot we can learn from other people’s success. However, if leaders get comfortable with the status quo, then their personal and professional growth can hit a plateau. This is why it’s crucial to think about investing in an executive leadership coach.

Are you wondering how they can help you? Keep reading to learn all about how executive leadership coaching can unlock the potential for success.

Two Heads Are Better Than One

The old saying that two heads are better than one certainly applies to executive-level decision-making. You may feel like you have to carry the entire burden of the company on your shoulders, yet this isn’t true. In fact, you’d be doing both yourself and your employees a favor when you invest in leadership coaching for executives.

The goal should always be to make the wisest and most effective decisions possible. This may sound simple, yet it can be easy to get tunnel vision in certain scenarios. You can widen your horizons and see beyond your own perspective when you have someone with a fresh pair of eyes and ears that you can talk to.

Having an executive coach allows you to process information, situations, and decisions in a safe and neutral space. This time-saving resource also can prevent misinformation and setting the wrong expectations that often happens when processing challenges with team members and colleagues…and you won’t have to bother your friends and family members with business matters when you’re trying to have relaxing get-togethers. 

More Thorough Long-Term Planning

Are you still asking yourself, “What is executive leadership coaching?”

Acting on instinct can be a great leadership talent when the situation calls for it. However, you shouldn’t use instincts and knee-jerk reactions on a regular basis, especially when it comes to long-term strategies. An executive leadership coach can help your look to the future in a way that’s less intimidating and more calculating.

There are a lot of unknowns to consider when thinking about the future, which is why it can be immensely helpful to have a coach at your side. They can also be there to quickly work through small-scale decisions that might have a far-reaching impact.

It’s worth emphasizing that a coach isn’t there to tell you exactly what to do in every single situation. Rather, they can listen to your situation and ask the right questions so that you can have a much easier time coming to the conclusion that works best for you. They can also offer strategies, tools, and resources to make the thought process smoother and less stressful.

Of course, half the battle of planning is often figuring out what your goals should be in the first place. An executive leadership coach can act as a sounding board so that you can both identify your goals and work toward achieving them one by one.

Empower Yourself to Empower Others

One of the most important aspects of the executive role involves empowerment. Your team’s morale will fluctuate throughout the year, and it’s up to you to maintain productive morale. Yet, it can be quite a challenge to empower dozens if not hundreds of individuals if you don’t feel empowered yourself.

This is where executive coaching and leadership mentoring come in. As a leader, empowerment starts within, and an executive coach is trained to help you tap into that. Of course, it’s more complicated than pressing a button to make you feel like you can take on the world.

Empowerment and self-confidence take nurturing. As you build habits and practices to cultivate these qualities, over time, your energy and confidence will rub off on your employees as well. An executive coach can also provide techniques on best practices for boosting morale in a proactive way.

Compelling Communication 

As an executive, strong and compelling communication is vital. More specifically, creating communications that build synergy, align people to your vision, and reduce friction are what transform bright senior leaders into brilliant executives. 

But how do you do this? One way is through executive coaching. 

In order to know if we are communicating effectively, we need outside perspective. People are rarely direct with the CEO and so she/he needs the right input from a knowledgeable and trusted source. When executives have access to candid input, communication training and resources, they can begin to apply specific communication techniques in their everyday interactions. When the leader exudes compelling communication, team members who once could not see eye to eye are now able to work together and apply their different talents to their work. 

As an executive, it’s your responsibility to get others to follow your vision and that’s a whole lot easier when your communications are clear and compelling. Though it sounds easy enough, it can be difficult when you have a team of senior leaders with a variety of personalities. Knowledge, finesse, and respectful dialogue can align colleagues to understand your vision and follow your lead. An executive communication coach can help you align your communication to meet the needs of different styles while helping you polish your presentation to convey the level of energy and enthusiasm that becomes magnetic to others. 

Higher Life Satisfaction

There’s no getting around the fact that one’s work can end up overtaking one’s personal life. As an executive, the chances of this happening are even more likely. While there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to balancing work and life, it’s important to find out what balance is right for you.

In addition to work-related goals, an executive coaching program can also go a long way towards helping you reach the ideal balance between your life needs and the needs of the company you run. That way, you can stop feeling tugged in opposite directions at the same time and start attaining inner and outer peace of mind.

To begin, it’s important to stop seeing your work as a sacrifice that takes away from time with your family and friends. An executive leadership coach can walk you through attaining a healthy and productive mindset. In a lot of ways, it’s possible to see work life and family life as two things that can enhance each other rather than detract from each other.

Ready to Start Executive Leadership Coaching?

Now that you’ve learned about how executive leadership coaching can unlock the potential for success, you’re ready to boost profits and increase satisfaction. Find out more about initiating this transformational experience yourself. After all, an investment in you is an investment in your company. 

When it comes to C-level leaders, Excelerate is here to nurture next-level growth. In addition to specializing in productive leadership development and communication skills, our expert team can also act as a confidence and inspiration booster, a strategic sounding board, and so much more.

If you’re itching to get more profitable results, then don’t hesitate to reach out to us and schedule a meeting.

With such a huge amount of money comes a huge amount of responsibility. It can be easy to get in over your head. Even if things are going smoothly now, that doesn’t always guarantee a smooth and successful future, which is why it’s worth looking into an executive coaching program.

Are you wondering if something like that is worth the time and investment? Keep reading to learn how you can benefit from an executive coach.

What Is Executive Coaching?

Executive coaching is an approach to personal and professional development that uses inquiry to raise awareness, develop solutions, catalyze action, and facilitate learning. Executive coaching helps leaders shift and refine their perspectives in order to cultivate beliefs and behaviors that support exceptional performance while continually improving their impact on the people around them.

When it comes to the nature of executive coaching, it helps to think in terms of a partnership rather than a teacher and student relationship. By working together, you and your executive coach can create a professional environment where strategic inspiration, creativity, and empowerment can thrive. That way, you can excel in your position and see even better and more profitable results within the company.

The benefits are wide-ranging, yet some benefits might be more useful than others, depending on your situation, the field you work in, and other factors. Below are just a few.

Do You Lack Support?

As an executive, your employees rely on you for support and general leadership. However, where does the leader go for leadership? Even the best leaders of all time need at least one advisor to help them be as effective as possible.

This is where executive coaching services come in. They can work as your support system so that you don’t have to appear unsure in front of your employees or even in front of your family members. The discretion and understanding of an executive coach make them the perfect ear for any issues you might be experiencing.

Instead of telling you how to run your company, the coach can talk things through with you so that you can home in on the best solution for your specific needs.

Do You Want to Build Your Strengths? 

Yet another benefit of executive coaching programs is that they can help you identify and clarify your talents and build them into strengths. For instance, if you’re a people person, then a coach can offer you suggestions on how to communicate with others who may not identify as such. After all, communication is a two-way street and can become quite difficult if you’re dealing with those who communicate differently than you. 

Aside from boosting your talents, a coach can also help you work through and reduce what you identify as weaknesses as much as possible. While it’s true that no one is perfect, that shouldn’t stop you from striving to become the best executive possible.

If you struggle with accountability or prioritization, a coach can offer tips and tricks for getting over such hurdles. It’s important to note that the first step toward improving on anything is recognizing that improvement is both needed and possible. Without a drive to do better, you could find yourself in a rut.

Do You Struggle With Networking?

Networking can oftentimes be a full-time job in and of itself. Even though an executive already has a plethora of responsibilities, networking is one that can’t be neglected. An executive coach can offer input on how best to approach networking and building social capital so that it enhances your other tasks instead of taking away from them.

The purpose of networking is to make valuable professional connections yet it doesn’t stop there. Forging those connections is only part of the equation.

For them to prove fruitful for a long time to come, it’s essential to invest time and energy into nurturing that connection and stoking the fires so that it doesn’t die out. An executive coach can also help with these tasks by facilitating timely and strategic communication efforts, among other things.

The more you put into networking, the more you’ll get out of it. With that in mind, you’ll see that the time investment will turn out to be more than worth it.

Do You Want the Best Talent?

Business can often be a dog-eat-dog world. This is especially true when it comes to talent acquisition. If you ignore the talent aspect of your business, then it won’t be long until you start seeing the negative effects of this.

Investing in an executive coach is one way of taking advantage of talent without having to onboard an in-person employee. In this way, you can get all the benefits at a fraction of the cost. An executive coach can also listen to your other talent needs and help you to make the most informed decision possible.

When it comes to talent acquisition, these are often some of the toughest executive-level choices you can make. However, it’s important to weigh all the pros and cons then feel confident about your final decision. The last thing you’d want to do is lose sleep over potential regrets, which is why consulting an executive coach can end up being quite productive.

Over time, you can start filling your company with ambitious, hard-working, and reliable individuals. They’ll keep the ship afloat and send it on a successful voyage far into the future. The old saying that a business is only as strong as its weakest link is certainly true.

Are You Ready to Hire an Executive Coach?

Now that you’ve learned all about how an executive coach can benefit you, it’s time to decide what’s best for you and your company as a whole.

When it comes to expert executive coaching, look no further than the seasoned coaches at Excelerate. We work with C-level leaders from a variety of industries who benefit from our specialty in communication and executive development. We help our clients create strategy, focus on productivity, develop high-performing teams, and other activities necessary for successful outcomes. If you have questions, feel free to reach out to us. We’re happy to help you out in any way we can.

1. He has a growth mindset and has decided that Ukraine can do really hard things.
2. Roadblock after literal roadblock, Zelenski stays resilient to the cause and focuses on productivity. 
3. He continually takes initiative, pleading his country’s case and executive the necessary steps to fight and win. 
4. As the weeks wear on and the pressure builds, Zelensky is tenacious and he keeps going. His perseverance serves to maintain stability and optimism, and in doing so he rallys support, commitment and unity that extends beyond the borders of his country.

Zelenski possesses the attributes of a gritty leader – traits that every executive needs to cultivate so that they can be drawn on when the crisis comes. 

President Zelensky has shown incredible bravery, courage and intelligence, even as his cities are reduced to rubble. He has shown the world a portrait of an exceptional leader and we will continue to see his impact in the world. While we may not find ourselves leading a war effort, we can be inspired to lead with the same gusto and grit we are seeing in Ukraine. We can learn from the good and the bad, and apply the best to our own everyday leadership.  

If you’re curious how you might bear up under crisis, our GRIT assessment is a great way to begin exploring your own leadership fortitude. Click here to take the assessment and see how our executive coaching can expand you or your executives’ leadership capability to confidently lead organizations through the peaks and valleys of life and leadership.

Becoming a CEO is often the dream of most ambitious employees. When you finally reach this amazing milestone, you might think your work is over. However, the work is just beginning. It’s just as important to keep learning as a CEO as it is when you are an emerging leader. CEO coaching programs are specifically designed to support CEOs as they face challenges unique to their role. 

Are you wondering what a program like this consists of and what it can teach you? Keep reading to learn all about CEO coaching and why it’s worth the investment.

Clearer Decision-Making

Are you asking yourself, “What is a CEO coach?” In general, a CEO coach is there to help you tap into your true potential within the role of chief executive officer. Simply put, the position of CEO comes with many responsibilities that could be overwhelming.

Instead of giving in to this stress, CEO coaches are there to have you back. Aside from cheering you on, a coach can help you make the best decision within a given scenario. They aren’t there to tell you exactly what to do, rather they can facilitate an inspiring and positive atmosphere for more effective decision-making.

That way, you won’t be wracked with questions of whether or not you made the best decision. While it’s important to consider as many possibilities ahead of time, it’s just as important to have peace of mind after you’ve decided on a course of action.

More Vitality

Another aspect of CEO coaching services relates to time management. There are plenty of CEO jobs out there that can leave you with little to no personal or family time. It often boils down to prioritizing activities and being excellent about self-care.

A CEO coach can help you to see that there’s often more time in the day than one realizes. Without a holistic view, CEO’s can get mired in unimportant tasks. That’s why it’s important to ask the right questions about what is worth your time and what can be delegated to others. 

A CEO coach will help them create and align time to the highest priorities and build a great self-leadership tool-box. That way, you can have greater impact while cultivating a much happier and healthier balance between your work and your personal life.

Someone to Rely On

It’s easy for the position of CEO to feel quite lonely, especially when everyone looks toward you for leadership. However, even the president has a right-hand individual he can look to for guidance and more. This is what you can get when you invest in a CEO coaching program.

There are all kinds of leadership and business issues that can end up being difficult to broach with your fellow employees. The last thing you want to do is burden your family members and friends with them. A CEO coach has been trained to hear you out and provide input when and where it’s necessary.

Even having someone as a strategic soundboard can work wonders for your thought process while reducing stress and anxiety at the same time. The most reliable CEO coaches are the ones who are only a phone call or video chat away.

Boosted Confidence

You could have all the skills that a CEO requires, yet those will only take you so far if you don’t have the essential ingredient of confidence. Another thing you can rely on your CEO coach for is empowerment. Half the battle of big tasks as a CEO involves believing you can do them in the first place.

In most cases, confidence can’t be obtained overnight. Rather, it can be a long-term commitment to nurture confidence. This is because confidence involves changing your mindset, which can be quite difficult to do on your own.

There are a lot of nuances that can come with the word “confidence.” For instance, it can relate to having the confidence to stick with a decision. It could also involve pitching a new idea in a way that inspires your employees to get behind it and make it a success.

There are some things you can “fake it while you make it,” yet being CEO isn’t one of them. If you try to fake it, then there’s a risk that the confidence mask will crack and result in a small or large disaster. “Faking it” also brings on stress which is the last thing a CEO needs. Avoid the risk of imposter syndrome by investing in the expert services of a CEO coach.

Coaching Inspires Lifelong Learning

Put in the simplest terms, there’s always something more to learn. No matter how old you are, there’s someone out there who knows something you don’t. When we recognize this fact, we can set ourselves up for further success.

However, deciding that we already know enough or being afraid to let people see that we don’t know it all, are types of close-mindedness that can end up sabotaging your CEO success. Company leaders are visible and vital. They must stay on their toes, inspire confidence, drive  innovation and deliver results. It’s a tough gig and if you fail in any of these areas, you may be putting your company and your career are at risk. 

Lifelong learning is something a CEO coach can inspire and facilitate in a personal and actionable way. Whether it relates to a new viewpoint on an old situation or a new product for the market, lifelong learning can result in profound discoveries. Inner discoveries about talent and habit are just as important as the outer discoveries of new products and services.

It can even be the case that an inner discovery can be the inspiration to come up with something you never even thought of before.

Are You Ready to Leverage CEO Coaching?

Now that you’ve learned about CEO coaching and why it’s worth the investment, you can take your education to the next level. The confidence, skills and strategies you develop through coaching  will go a long way towards accelerating the success of your company and help you perform beyond your own expectations.

We specialize in catalyzing the potential of c-level leaders across a wide variety of industries. As strategic thought partners, we help executives hone their confidence, business instincts, increase productivity, reduce stress, and more. Working with Excelerate, you can look forward to achieving the results you desire and experiencing sustained success while being a powerful source of inspiration to others. Contact us for more information.

Peleton receive a ton of criticism over how the organization’s leadership handled the situation. The truth is that sometimes businesses have to make tough decisions to protect the future, yet in this case, they went about it poorly. In this article, we explore where they went wrong and steps they could have taken to avoid the negative fallout.

1. Anticipate the Worst.
At the start of the pandemic, Peloton had a 400% surge in stock, as COVID-19 altered everyone’s workouts to exist solely at home. This lasted throughout 2020, yet once accessibility to the vaccine increased and gyms started to reopen in 2021, sales decreased dramatically. This should not have come as a surprise to Peleton, yet often companies get caught up in the excitement of positive blessings that they forget to play out worst case scenarios and create contingency plans for the worst case scenarios.

Peloton’s former CEO, John Foley, acknowledged that they did not anticipate sales decreasing at such a dramatic rate and were caught off guard without a strategy to course correct. As a result, they found themselves with a declining stock price, a bloated workforce and no plan to immediately change course. Had their executive leadership team been better equipped to adapt to the changing market, they may not have been in the situation they’re currently in. The responsibility for this misstep is laid at the feet of the CEO, however responsibility should be shared at least two levels down. Executives should have been pressuring the company to have multiple strategies – one to keep the COVID boon going with innovation, and a second to manage growth more carefully to avoid the inevitable blow-out of ramping up the business to meet the demand of an anomaly.

2. Don’t Be Tone Deaf.
As a communication expert, I found this next misstep rather shocking and completely avoidable. In planning for the lay-off of approximately 2,800 employees, they included in their severance package included a12-month all-access membership to Peloton’s subscription services. The backlash created here seems obvious – why would a laid-off employee want to use the services of the company that terminated them? While this was likely done with good intentions, it brings to mind the tone-deaf blunder that cost Marie Antinette her head…”Let them eat cake!” 

“Let them ride bikes!” showcased the leadership team’s lack of awareness and sensitivity to the emotional impact the layoff would have on their people. That’s just not okay. Whether it’s the impact you’re making on another human being or awareness of how things might reflect on the company, good executives take time to gain a well-rounded perspective of how their words and actions effect those around them.

3. Control the Process.
There were reports from employees that they found out about the layoffs from a leaked online source. Plus, some say that they hadn’t heard about all the severance package details until they read about it in the press. When it comes to difficult conversations with employees, it’s important that employees hear it directly from the organization.

Leaks are avoidable and executives need to know how to navigate these tricky situations with gravitas and respect. A few basics that help control the process are 1.) have a crystal clear, documented communication plan so that everyone is on the same page at all times. 2.) Keep the circle of informed people very small. 3.) Hire and share only with people who have demonstrated trustworthiness. An executive team that truly understands the mantle of responsibility they took on when they accepted their positions, would show respect to their employees and their company by prioritizing the importance of exceptional communication and handling of a massive layoff. 

The key to a strong, resilient organization starts with your c-level executives. Many executive leaders have great technical skills, yet do not have experience, the grit, the strategic power  unique yet essential to success in C-level roles. Peloton has a great product and they have done some wonderful things for the at-home exercise industry and hopefully, under new leadership, they will continue to innovate and power-through this pothole. In the meantime, we can learn from their mistakes – all of which seem to have occurred at the executive level, because the CEO and the top-level leaders simply weren’t prepared for their strategic, high-impact and highly visible roles.  

Are your senior leaders and executives ready for the pressure of leadership at the top? Many are not, yet the ripple effect of an executives impact can not be understated. If you’re interested in ensuring your leaders are ready, Download our white paper to learn about the leaps senior leaders must make as they transition into c-level roles, and how they can be set-up for success, no matter what the journey brings.