What’s the most important thing an executive coach can do to succeed?
Choosing the right clients. More specifically, choosing to only work with leaders who demonstrate a high potential of success before the engagement.
In order to do this, the coach needs to qualify potential clients very intentionally. They decline to work with anyone who they believe may not succeed. They’re in the business of results, not rescues. Each prospective leader gets one chance, and if they make a mistake, the coach walks away.
You don’t need to be an executive coach to benefit from this mindset. You just need to be willing to lead (and leading yourself counts!). Marshall Goldsmith, who has worked with many successful leaders, writes, “You’ll find that this is one of the defining traits of habitual winners: They stack the deck in their favor. And they’re unabashed about it.”
Winners focus on finding opportunities with high rewards and low risk, and doing what it takes to improve the odds of success. In his book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, Marshall shares a list of seven guidelines for stacking the deck (I added some comments in brackets):
- You Might Not Have a Disease That Behavioral Change Can Cure (i.e., you may need skills, a partner with technical expertise, etc.)
- Pick the Right Thing to Change
- Don’t Delude Yourself About What You Really Must Change (here’s a related post)
- Don’t Hide from the Truth You Need to Hear (here’s a related post)
- There Is No Ideal Behavior (i.e., prioritize aggressively)
- If You Can Measure It, You Can Achieve It
- Monetize the Result, Create a Solution (e.g., implement incentives such as bonuses and fines)
Sometimes, even just being mindful of when you’re stacking the deck against your favor—and being open to options with high rewards and low risk—is enough to get started.
P.S., Here’s another example of stacking the deck, through an analogy from Shane Parrish’s Clear Thinking: “Time is the friend of someone who is properly positioned and the enemy of someone poorly positioned. When you are well positioned, there are many paths to victory. If you are poorly positioned, there may be only one. You can think of this a bit like playing Tetris. When you play well, you have many options for where to put the next piece. When you play poorly, you need just the right piece.”