Every Leader should have a Coach

If you watch top tennis players such as Rafael Nadal play a tournament, you will inevitably see him looking up at his coach at regular intervals. Nearly every elite level sports person has a coach as it is well known that in sport no matter how well trained or talented you are, few can sustain their best performance on their own. However, in Business whilst the role of coaches is increasing, every top performer does not routinely have a coach – why is this?

I have benefitted from a number of coaches during my business career and at Mercia Ventures we are strong advocates that all of our portfolio leaders will benefit from investing in coaching for themselves and their teams.

A good coach provides a balance of support and challenge and most importantly can help improving a leader’s ability to perform consistently better over time by developing their potential. It is very easy on a day to day basis for all leaders to become tactically focused, but the company boards expect them to be strategic.  I think coaching definitely helps a leader to think through the development of future strategic options.  They can also help with team issues and driving efficiencies by challenging the patterns of behaviour that are not helpful, replacing them with those that are, leading to better results.

In 2019, Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle published a book titled "Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell," which chronicled Campbell's life and leadership principles.

Bill Campbell, was a highly influential figure in Silicon Valley. He had a diverse career that included roles as a football coach where he served as the head coach of the Columbia University football team.  In the 1980s, Campbell transitioned to the business world, working at companies like Kodak and Apple before developing as a coach offering guidance and support to leaders at companies where he was often introduced by the VC. Some of his most prominent mentees included Larry Page and Sergey Brin the founders of Google, Eric Schmidt the former CEO of Google, Jeff Bezos the founder of Amazon, and Sheryl Sandberg the COO at Facebook. (The title of the book refers to the cumulative market capitalisation of the companies whose leaders Campbell coached, which exceeded a trillion dollars at the time of the book's publication and is now significantly more!)

Campbell's coaching style was reportedly characterised by his emphasis on relationships, trust, and accountability. He believed in the power of teamwork and fostering a culture of openness and honesty within companies. His insights and guidance were credited with helping many companies navigate challenges and achieve success.

The concept of a coach is not without challenge. Coaches are not teachers, but they teach. They’re not your boss—in professional sports and in business the individual hires the coach—but they can be bossy. Mainly, they observe, they judge, and they guide.  I think having the support of a coach in business can improve leadership effectives, enhance emotional intelligence, allow an increased focus of goals and objectives and improved overall team performance.

As mentioned above I have personally benefitted from coaches and advocate that everyone else will as well.

What are your thoughts?

Have you experienced the benefit of coach either in sport or business?