Why Young Leaders Need Coaching

Leaders come in all stripes. Young or old, green or seasoned, heavy-handed or laid back — there are benefits to all leadership styles, and it helps to know which kind of leader you are in order to manage others effectively. Regardless of your leadership style, however, if you’re a young professional who is new to the prospect of overseeing others, it pays to invest in leadership training from a certified coach. 

What can young leaders learn from a coach? Coaching for young leaders offers a variety of benefits, from helping young leaders avoid early career mistakes to training them to respond effectively during moments of duress. If you’re a young leader — and we’ll define that term shortly — keep reading for more information on why coaching is a crucial part of developing key leadership skills that will help you confront modern challenges and lead your organization to greater success.  

What are young leaders?

Young leaders wear many different hats. A young leader could be a restaurant owner, the executive of a clothing manufacturing company, a social movement organizer, a major online influencer or even the head of a political campaign. Regardless of the positions they hold, young leaders are defined as professionals with a large number of responsibilities and a team of employees or colleagues who work alongside them to accomplish tasks. 

What are young leaders struggling with?

Young leaders often have difficulties with three key areas of leadership: making sound organizational decisions, building confidence, and delivering results for shareholders, customers or colleagues. Traditionally, young leaders become better at these key areas by making mistakes — unfortunately, that can lead to business losses and a lack of faith among employees. 

That’s why coaching for young leaders is such an important part of their development. With the right coach, all of these areas can be improved without having to make the kinds of mistakes other new leaders might. 

How has COVID-19 changed leadership trajectories?

COVID-19 has thrown a wrench in everything we used to know about leadership. Leaders everywhere — both young leaders and seasoned ones — are having to adopt new principles, agendas and techniques to cope with the pandemic. While difficult, the process has actually been positive for many young leaders. Why?

One reason may be because the pandemic has forced many organizations to rely on technology in order to keep working effectively. Young professionals are more acquainted with technological advancements than traditional executives, giving them an edge on longtime CEOs. 

The pandemic has also exacerbated the necessity of innovation: with disruptions to global supply chains, an increase in work-from-home schedules, new in-office safety regulations and more, companies simply can’t keep doing things the way they once did. This gives young leaders another opportunity to show off their ingenuity and creativity by engineering solutions to new problems in the marketplace. 

‍

How can coaching help?

For young leaders, coaching can help by introducing new ways of thinking that help improve leadership, executive functioning and decision-making skills. Honing these skills is especially important for young professionals who have yet to have specific career experience that prepares them for managing organizations or overseeing large teams of people.

Specifically, young leaders might benefit most from a coaching regimen that involves frequent — if not daily — correspondence with their certified coaching professional. For instance, an online journaling platform such as The Journal That Talks Back™ allows users to write back and forth with their coach at any time, opening the door to near-real time support whenever needed. Here are just a few ways coaching through an online platform can help young leaders hone their skills. 

• Coaching for young leaders can help them make better decisions: Leadership is all about making difficult decisions for those around you. As a leader, sometimes you’ll be faced with two bad choices — or you’ll be tasked with choosing something that you disagree with but must decide upon regardless. In these hard moments, it helps to have a coach at your side who can help you navigate the most difficult decisions.
  
  
• Coaching for young leaders can help them gain confidence: Young leaders struggle with confidence often. This is partially attributed to the fact that others see them as new or inexperienced, even if they have ample credentials. A coach can help you adopt new ways of thinking so that you can present yourself with poise and grace.
  
  
• Coaching for young leaders can help them deliver results: The most important thing a leader should be able to do is deliver results. Simply put, leaders who don’t deliver don’t stay leaders for very long. A great coach can help you develop tactics and strategies that get results and show other executives that you’re on top of your game. 
  

Why coaching is necessary for young leaders

Coaching is necessary for young leaders not only to help them succeed in their professional lives, but also in order for them to find fulfillment in their personal lives. A great coach should ideally offer young leaders the opportunity to work through any difficulty they are currently experiencing — from workplace disputes to personal relationship problems that are causing performance issues at the office. 

The key here is that a great coach will help young leaders understand that coaching is a holistic process. It involves every aspect of life, from family relations to workplace promotions to health issues to financial management. If this sounds like something you could benefit from, consider looking into top coaching platforms today.