It's Lonely at the Top
It's a moment I remember very well. My first performance review about 9 months into my first CEO role. I had been the Chair's preferred choice despite coming from outside the industry, so they had a vested interest in my success. Those few months had gone as well as I think anyone can reasonably expect, but of course there were lessons and things I could have done better. But learning on the job needs feedback and support from the Board and the Chair in particular, and I felt I could have had more. Taking the risk of showing my vulnerability, I asked for that support.
"That's a bit needy isn't it, Andrew?" was their reply.
If I hadn't known it already, that response brought home just how lonely a CEO can be. And just how difficult it is to show vulnerability and admit you don't know everything. Your team are looking to you for clear direction, the Board expect you to be across everything, your staff are looking to you for confidence. Yet, in today's increasingly complex world, with uncertainty and volatility ever greater, the need for the CEO to admit to what they don't know — and therefore what support they need — is more important than ever.
At the time, I mentally made a note that I needed a new Chair and got on with finding my support elsewhere. But I now wish that I had asked for an executive coach to work with me over that year of transition as I took up the role. Not someone to tell me what to do or give me advice (that isn't coaching), but someone who could create the space I needed to step back, reflect, think more deeply, be honest and open, and indeed, dare I say it, to be vulnerable.
That's the model that I now apply to my work as an Executive Coach. It definitely helps that senior leaders know they are talking to someone who has been in their shoes. This helps to build confidence and trust, but that doesn't mean I know the answers to their problems. Of course there may well be times when sharing something from my own experience may be helpful. But most importantly I am there alongside them, accompanying them in their journey, and helping them go further in their thinking than they would have done alone or with someone else.
A great Executive Coach won't solve your issues or tell you what to do. But they can help you realise that you are not alone, and that can make all the difference.
If any part of this resonates - if you're leading through complexity, transition, or growth and could use a steady thinking partner in your corner - book a call with Andrew, or explore our other coaches.
