Coach Me! Your Personal Board of Directors

38 Self as Leader

Pamela McLean

Pamela McLean, PhD, CEO, Hudson Institute of Coaching, is a psychologist, master coach, and coach supervisor. She has authored several books, including LifeForward, a book on transitions in aduladthood; The Handbook of Coaching, examining the essential ingredients in leadership coaching; and Self as Coach, Self as Leader .

Leaders Have Blind Spots

John was not sure coaching was necessary given his experience and his track record, yet his new boss asked him to “give it a try,” and he somewhat reluctantly signed on. John had recently received a promotion to a new role and while he felt all was going mostly well, his boss, without offering specificity, hinted that he needed to make some adjustments to be a success in this larger role.

John and I started our coaching on this note, and in our early conversations, he was a bit guarded, describing himself as someone dedicated to work, focused on results, at ease directing others to and disinclined to develop personal relationships with his team members. He reflected that his past role of several years was quite tactical and that his team worked within a highly defined structure – this new role was just slightly out of his comfort zone.

As we approached our work, John agreed to seeking stakeholder input to provide us with a view into how he was experienced by others and potentially discover where he might make pivots to create more comfort for himself in this new role and hit the mark for his boss. ...