The Art of Coaching - How to Choose the Right Coach with Francie Schulwolf

In the last year, millions of workers took early retirement, which created a band of less-experienced managers and leaders in most companies. It's a great career opportunity and accelerated promotions for several managers. But it also pushes a less-experienced leader to learn how to drive while the car is moving, and it can create risks within a company when someone is leading who doesn't have a bank of experiences to draw on.

That's why coaching is a hot commodity.

A Coach becomes a trusted advisor to a new leader. A good Coach becomes a sounding board… and a confidante. A good Coach can broaden your thinking and help you solidify your options. And the best Coaches will help you expand your skills and your tools so that you can leverage the learnings even after the coaching relationship wraps up.

So, how do you find the right coach?

On this episode of What's Your Story, Sally talks with her colleague and SW&A Executive Coach, Francie Shulwolf, about how they work together to identify the right direction and guidance for coaching clients. Francie has also been a recipient of coaching services from her previous leadership role in a large hospitality company. Over the years, she often says: "What we do here at SW&A is different. It's so much richer in terms of takeaways." So today's podcast shares insights from both sides of the table.

More about Francie Schulwolf

Francie is an Executive Coach and Business Development Director at SW&A, and a former Communications Leader for a global hospitality company. Her focus is on developing strong, confident communicators. With close to twenty-five years of global, corporate experience in advertising, marketing and communications, she is intimately familiar with the demands executives face. This understanding, along with her honest and warm style, create a safe and comfortable environment for individuals to learn and grow.

Show Notes

• In the last year, millions of workers took early retirement which resulted in a shift in the workforce, creating a group of less experienced managers and leaders.
  • A good coach can broaden your thinking and help you expand your tools.
    • How do you find the right coach?
  • Role of the manager has shifted
    • Managers are taking on a more significant role.
    • Distractions are gone, people are home.
    • There is more pressure to get things done.
    • People were being more intentional/more empathetic.
  • Do you need a coach if you have a mentor in your company?
    • Mentor sees you daily and helps you navigate the waters of your company.
    • A Coach provides you the valuable tools to enhance your leadership style and is a third party outside source that is focused on the individual's leadership outside of the company.
    • A coach is results driven.
  • How to start
    • Decide what you need a coach for.
    • Coaches have the skillset to build leaders' communication and leadership style.
    • Chemistry is important with the coach - Trusted relationships
  • Should you get a coach?
    • There is a difference between somebody who has experience vs expertise.
    • Coaches help you combine the two and become a compelling communicator and leader.
  • Tell your potential coach about what you are looking for
    • Most business decisions are not new decisions - a good coach has experience.
    • The coach brings insight.
    • Impressions are someone else's perspective - insights shift to improvement.
  • Videotaping
    • Going through the before and after on the video - raise awareness of habits.
    • When you get out of your head and into the room, it shows.
  • Distinguish experience from expertise
    • The reason to go to a coach is the expertise in the final assessment.
  • The 4 things that help somebody align with a coach
    • Chasing chemistry - must have chemistry to get to a place of trust with a coach.
    • Insights vs improvement - get the feedback, doing something with it, have great awareness.
    • Balance experience vs expertise - What do you need to do to be better?
    • Inside coach vs outside coach - get a third party involved.