Financial Advisors: The Beneficial Effects of Coaching

With the increasing recognition and realization that coaching is a very useful tool for successful financial advisors, we are often asked how coaching is so effective. In a recent article in the Financial Times, “We Want Coaching”, by @MaxineBoersma, she provides anecdotal evidence that sheds some light on the value of coaching for top-performing executives and managers.

We include excerpted some verbatim statements from this article that point to coaching’s distinctive worth:

Coaching as an insignia of success: "Coaching is now a badge worn proudly by people either in or heading for senior roles"

Coaching on the rise: “Today’s trend is for high-potential employees to be coached or mentored, rather than just those deemed to be underperforming and in need of help – and despite tough economic times, it is on the rise.”

Honest feedback: “When executives are promoted into the most senior leadership positions…they find it more and more difficult to find opportunities to reflect on their leadership. Sources of honest feedback also become fewer and fewer.”

Reflective conversations and challenge: “Executive coaching is increasingly sought by senior leaders as a space where they can have reflective conversations about their work and be challenged on their thinking and approach.”

Coaches identify patterns: “Alexander Kuilman, an executive coach at Mobius Executive Leadership, has noticed business leaders becoming increasingly isolated in the past five years, as organizations have become more complex. He says a coach, free of internal agendas, can help a chief executive spot patterns in how they relate to themselves, to others and to the organization.”

Team coaching. “Another growing trend is “team coaching”. It aims to make teams more collaborative and is used in high-performing teams going through change that need to achieve peak performance quickly.”

Coaching encourages engagement. “When it comes to getting the best out of teams and fully engaging employees, a coaching style gets results. Through coaching, managers can encourage learning on the job, which ensures they get work done while also developing their team.”

Mentoring vs. Coaching. “Mentoring can be more directive than coaching, as the mentor tends to know more about the client’s business sector, but a coach is more effective as an objective observer. A coach allows the executive’s “internal wisdom to become conscious”, and then helps them to take action if required, he says. A coach might look for mindsets that underlie a particular behavior and help bring about change in the client.

Since coaching was created and developed in the early 1990’s, it has spread around the globe as a force for personal and professional growth and achievement. More and more, coaching is seen as a vital tool for financial advisors who want to unlock their potential as leaders, advisors, team members and human beings.