Coach Me! Your Personal Board of Directors

43 The Pause for Progress

Bill Carrier

Bill Carrier, president of Carrier Leadership Coaching, Inc., is an executive coach for high-impact CEOs and senior executives. He is the executive director of the Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches program for the top leadership professionals in the world, co-founder of The Future of Coaching magazine, a former Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholar to Brazil, and a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point.

“Have you ever played golf?” I asked my client. “Or watched it?”

He nodded, “Sure.” The leader of a billion-dollar division within a Fortune 100 company, he and I were having coffee during our coaching session. Though a star performer, like so many executives, he was maxed out. The stress and work were taking their toll – there was, in his mind, simply too much to get done. Now, on top of everything else, a major strategy change had just been announced.

“What happens on the tee box?” I continued.

“Well…you put the ball on the tee, take a moment, and then swing,” he replied, eyeing me a little uncertainly.

I nodded, “Does anyone ever put the ball on the tee, step back about twenty feet, sprint to the tee, swing as hard as possible while on the run, then chase after the ball while it’s flying?”

My client looked at me like I was a little crazy.

“Then, when they catch up to the ball, do they try to hit it while on a dead sprint, and basically play that way the entire round?”

“Of course not!” my client chuckled. We ...