Would You Make a Good Peer Coach?

Peer coaching helps to compensate for a major drawback of senior leadership positions—once you get to the top, opportunities for feedback and mentoring often become limited or disappear entirely. This can result in feelings of loneliness and isolation, and can cause leaders to stagnate.

As we head into the new year, ask yourself if it’s time to consider peer coaching. As the title suggests, peer coaching is not effective for everyone. But if the description below fits you, take this opportunity to learn more about my ExecuLink™ peer coaching forum.
Members of peer coaching networks should ideally demonstrate the following qualities:

1. Commitment to excellence

Peer coaching is all about learning and growth. If you are content where you are, then peer coaching probably won’t offer you many benefits. But if you are committed to continuous growth and improvement, peer coaching will provide ample opportunities.

2. Willingness to put in time and effort

If you are simply not in a place where you can guarantee your availability for monthly participation (or however often your peer coaching network meets), then peer coaching isn’t for you. Peer coaching is only effective if it is founded on trust, rapport, and consistency–all elements that require a significant time investment. 

3. Humility

Great leaders come in all shapes and sizes, but they all share one thing in common—they are humble. If you are not willing to share your successes and your failures, then peer coaching isn’t for you.

4. Self-awareness and empathy

If you are to benefit from peer coaching, you need to be well-practiced at self-reflection. If you think you might be lacking in this area, consider trying some one-on-one coaching first. 

If you exhibit these four qualities, I would love to talk to you about joining ExecuLink™ . The best part is, you do not have to be a current coaching client to join. Simply fill out the application form online, and I’ll be in touch with you shortly. As always, you can also reach me via my website, LinkedIn and Twitter.