What Got You Here Won’t Get You to the Next Level

At the age of 21, I decided I'd try my hand at golf for the first time.

All those years watching pro golfers on the weekends with my father led me to understand the game and decide it was time to try it for myself.

And I wasn't bad at it. Actually, I became pretty good.

I mean, you'd likely want me on your foursome for the charity scramble, but I wasn't a great player by any means.

I was 100% self-taught.

I didn't bother taking lessons because I thought I could figure it all out on my own— besides, if I had gotten to this point on my own, couldn't I become a great golfer on my own too?

(spoiler alert...no)

I thought coaching or lessons were a waste of time and money.

And I applied this same line of thinking to my career.

I didn't see the value of coaching or mentoring because I assumed I could learn it all on my own.

And I was succeeding professionally, so why take on additional help?

I think that's a common mindset... and it's a mistake.

Early in our careers, things are often transactional and technical.

Follow a prescribed development path.
Learn a new skill.
Perform the job.
Earn the next title.
Repeat.

If you can navigate the system and have aspirations to move up in your firm or organization, you often can figure it out on your own.

And I did.

Until something interesting happened...

As I got to higher levels in my career and started to enter senior leadership, the things I faced weren't transactional or technical anymore.

They were complex and multi-dimensional.

It started to become clear those same technical skills that got me to that point weren't going to be the things that took me to the next level.

At the higher levels, it became about things like interpersonal relationships, strategy, vision, and communication.

And to excel at those things, I had to invest in different skill sets and abilities. Now, it was about developing skills like:

• Empathy

• Critical thinking

• How I showed up

• My affect and effect

• Connecting the dots

• How people perceived me

• Identifying unintended consequences

• Effective communication

• Visioning, storytelling

• Strategy development and articulation

• Identifying inter-relationships and connections

And I realized if I wanted to perform my best and at the highest levels, I needed to develop faster than I was on my own.

So I hired my first coach.

It was around the time I was preparing to become CEO for the first time.

I realized I was competing on a whole new, much larger scale.

I wasn't competing against my colleagues for the next title or promotion, I was competing against every other CEO and organization in the marketplace.

And once I hired that first coach, I was sold on coaching.

Why?

Because I had someone in my corner who could see me in a way I could never see myself and help me identify the things that would help me perform at the highest level and up my game.

And just like the game of golf, sometimes those things were small. Slight tweaks or changes that made a massive difference.

Like the time my coach counted the number of “ums” I used during a speech and she stopped counting once she hit 100…

While it was hard receiving the critique afterward, I was grateful for the observation (and accepted the challenge to eliminate ‘um’ from my communications).

There's no replacement for an outsider's perspective—if they are someone specialized and experienced in challenging you to become better.

And look, here's the thing:

Coaches aren't there to help us become better at our craft or better technicians.

Coaches are there to help us improve ourselves such that we become better professionals as a result.

I see too many organizations stop investing in the development of people who reach the pinnacle positions in their careers (senior leader, c-suite, partner).

We assume they'll be able to figure things out on their own and it's a huge mistake.

Because what got them to where they are now won't be the same things that will get them to the next level.

No matter the stage of your career, take your development into your own hands. Be INTENTIONAL about lifelong learning.

As a CEO, it became apparent who was taking their development seriously and who wasn't. And guess what the people who took it seriously got?

More opportunity.

And now, as an advisor, I get the opportunity to play the role of providing the outsider's perspective to my clients.

Does it mean they listen to everything I might say or suggest? Of course not. And they shouldn't!

But as a CEO told me last week, "Thank you. I value your perspective on things. Thank you for being here."

Perspective. That's what it's about.

If you're interested in starting a conversation about how I might help you or your senior leadership team in a coaching or advising role, you can ​use this link to schedule​ a discovery call.

Whether it's coaching or advising with me or anyone else, be intentional about your development as a person and as a professional.

It will compound over time and make a world of difference over the course of your career.

With intention,
Alan D Whitman