Navigating tricky leadership questions with leadership coaches

Being a leader in today’s dynamic environment means having to navigate multiple evolving situations, often at the same time.

One investment many companies today make is to ensure leaders have access to leadership or executive coaches who can help them reflect and refocus on their key goals.

As we discuss more on careers at leadership levels, we will keep diving into this aspect of leadership coaching through various lenses. To start with, we spoke with Priya Ramesh, an executive coach, on some of the most common questions leaders have when they reach out to their coaches.


Here are some of Ramesh’s most recurring discussion threads:
Being accepted or respected as first among equals: Imagine a leader joining a new organisation. The existing team might not be the most welcoming in the initial stages. Having a coach to discuss these initial settling-in issues and to find ways to navigate the complex organisational layers could be helpful for new leaders.

Keeping the flock together: Inspiring and motivating teams to reach their best potential is often a hallmark of a great leader. In times of stress and difficulty, keeping the motivation and team spirits high is no easy task. No wonder then that leaders bring these thoughts to reflect on during their coaching discussions.

Navigating through uncertainty and managing anxiety: Rarely do leaders have the luxury of calm, uninterrupted, easy days and months. Their days need decisions, are peppered with both good and surprising news, and they need to find ways to maneuver through all of this with equanimity. There could be multiple aspects within that. An upcoming discussion with the board could be a high-stakes meeting. Alignment or misalignment with direct reports could cause stress. There also could be internal politics to deal with. All of this could lead to anxiety, and leaders and their coaches get together to try to find the most authentic and practical ways to address these moments.

Well-being and creating more balance: Today, more leaders are speaking about well-being. Be it physical fitness or mindfulness, leaders are trying to bring in healthier practices as part of their daily routines to bring a bit more balance in their lives. Actions could range from finding some time to read every day to finding a way to journal their thoughts before the busy day starts. This aspect is more for a leader’s own growth, beyond just immediate job performance, and the leaders do bring up such discussions with coaches.

Executive presence: Today, many leaders are also influencers, displaying their wisdom across their chosen channels, sometimes even through their own books and videos. So, an interesting question that leaders sometimes discuss with their coaches is on how to build this executive presence. Storytelling plays a key role here as does authenticity.


Life purpose: In some cases, as the leaders are driving growth, change and managing conflicts and inspiring people, they also start thinking of the next chapter in their own lives. These are deeper questions, often connected to their purpose and things which help them find meaning. Finding answers to such questions through self-reflection and discussion with their coaches can be deeply meaningful for the leaders.

As leadership evolves with the increasing advent of technological shifts, we do see the need for coaching becoming more valuable. At the same time, there are more people getting certified as coaches. More on that, soon.