From my limited experience, one of the bigger predictors of success or failure among early stage founders is acceptance that they might be wrong, knowing what they don’t know, and being open to improvement.
When I think back to when I first graduated college – the mix of experiences, trials and tribulations, people, and of course time has formed me into a much different – almost indistinguishable person (maybe with some resentment). Especially over the past few years of holding on for dear life being at the helm of the rocketship that is Contactually, every day presents a new challenge to grow.
When it was clear that I needed to both focus on being CEO, as well as step back from my founding role, it’s fair to say I was thrown well in the deep end. While on the whole my team saw me as an effective leader, there were clear areas of improvement (habits to break, skills to improve, and new traits to develop). One of our advisors, who has the scary ability to understand me better than myself, suggested I work with a coach.
What? Who uses a coach?
As that possibility was opened to me, it became clear that this was not only an accepted practice, but a common one. From early stage ventures to Google to long-running F500s. A quick google/quora search confirms that. But surprisingly few entrepreneurs in my immediate network employ a coach, or had heard of it.
A few introductions and phone calls later, I started working with a coach. I met some amazing minds, but decided to go with someone whose approach to leadership coaching and attitude fit what I was looking for.
I’m not going to go deep into the process as that’s unique to my coach’s subscribed methodology – but happy to talk 1:1, just talk to me 🙂
Four or five months later, it’s made a tremendous difference. Much of it is intangible – there is no Neo in the Matrix-like “I know kung fu” moment. But I can point at major things in the company and can with confidence say that it would not have happened if I had not reached out and received help growing into the leader the company of my dreams needed me to be. Working with a coach, even if just for a short period of time, is now not even a question for me. I’m recommending it to others on my team, and whenever I meet with any other post-traction entrepreneur seeking advice, that’s the primary piece of advice I give – you can always improve, and a coach can help.
