Business View Magazine Feb 2023

141 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 2 pharma, manufacturing, construction, retail, research, financial services, academia, healthcare, and nonprofits. The size of organizations ranges from $20M to multi-billion dollar global corporations and everything in between. “The common denominator in all our clients is that they are senior executives who are motivated to be the best leaders they can be and to have a positive leadership impact on their organizations. Their success is no longer about what they know or what they can do, it’s all about how they can tap into the full potential of the people working in their organizations,” Sabia says. The pandemic disrupted the workforce globally and led to everyone rethinking the importance of work, how work fits into their lives, and how they want to show up at work. “While the press mostly talks about this for the general employee population, this is also certainly true at the most senior levels of leadership. Senior leaders are doing a lot more exploration of how they’re showing up as leaders, and what is authentic and not so authentic. This helps to clarify for senior leaders what they really believe and how they want those beliefs and practices to be realized in the workplace. It’s leading to more truth and authenticity at the top, which I believe benefits everyone in the organization,” says Carol. Another issue that surfaced from the pandemic across many sectors was finding a balance between an established typical working environment in the office to a more flexible one, either hybrid or totally remote. One factor that has suffered from this shift is workplace connections. Teams who don’t meet in person may lose that relational bond, which is critical for the organization’s culture. “Most of the senior leaders I have spoken with are embracing a more flexible approach to work when that’s possible, giving their employees more control in the decisions of remote vs. on- site work. However, many employees and leaders are concerned about the loss of connection and how to make sure that is factored into the equation. The real challenge moving forward will be figuring out how to strike the right balance around flexible work and strong interpersonal connections,” says Sabia. Carol recaps a more strategic trend she’s seeing when stating, “Both of these pandemic-highlighted issues point in the direction of senior leaders listening to and working with their employees to come up with cultural solutions that work for people AND organizations. This is really about leaders taking a more coach-like approach to leading their team members, by asking questions, being curious about what’s really important and meaningful to them, and collaborating with them to find a win-win solution. I think this ‘leader as coach’ approach is gaining traction and will contribute to healthier organizations in the future.” The coaching industry is going through its own set of developments. Currently, the industry is being flooded with individuals who call themselves coaches but may not have the relevant training. These people may really be doing consulting or mentoring or therapy, rather than coaching. SHEERL INE ASSOC I ATES