Here's how you can help clients adapt to new leadership roles as an executive coach.

I stress the importance of clarity when making changes, especially when coaching clients into new leadership roles. The first step is always to assess their needs thoroughly. This involves understanding their current skills, the demands of the role, and where they need to improve. Encouraging self-reflection helps them identify their strengths and weaknesses, which is key. This targeted approach allows me to develop a coaching plan that’s tailored to their needs, ensuring they're well-prepared to meet their new challenges.

New leadership roles, especially for attorneys, means acknowledging the skills that got you the job, probably aren't the ones you need now. Assessing what's necessary *now* is critical in crafting a plan for success as a law firm partner (or managing partner), general counsel, or similar legal leader. This doesn't have to be complicated, and I like to work with clients to identify the skills and capabilities that are relevant to their new role. This makes it easier to focus attention on the things that are most useful and relevant to the current role as well as a benchmark to measure against later.

Start with understanding the client and their environment. Identify the key concerns and document them. Based on your training and experience make recommendations for addressing the shortfalls identified above. Discuss the recommendations at the highest level of the organization. Once the leadership buy into your ideas you can work plans and budget for implementation. The actual work starts when you start dealing with the desk officers concerned.

Na minha experiencia, falar sobre Liderança executiva nos dias de hoje é extremamente desafiador, pois estamos falando sobre transições geracionais, diversidades, novas perspectivas ao mercado de trabalho e até mesmo o etarismo. Tudo isso exige muito mais dos novos lideres. Partindo desse principio podemos citar 3 principais pilares, são eles: 1-Conhecimento, 2- Comunicação e Inteligência Emocional. Será que os lideres estão devidamente prontos pro que temos e o que está por vir? O estar pronto talvez seja uma incógnita mas estar preparado é no mínimo esperado em meio ao mundo corporativo cada vez mais competitivo e inovador.

Begin by conducting a thorough assessment to understand the specific challenges, goals, and personal aspirations of your clients in their new leadership roles. Katy Gala believes in identifying individual strengths and areas for development, ensuring that coaching strategies are tailored to meet the unique needs of each client.

If you are in a new leadership role, it means that the organization (or someone in the organization) saw your potential and track record and wanted you to be in that leadership role. So, while it is important to understand the expectations, what is more important is to reconnect with the leadership qualities that got you to the role in the first place. You are already a capable leader. Your job is not to become someone else but to lead from your authentic self. While this is easier said and done if you were to do it all on your own, working with a good coach can help you prepare for the new journey with confidence.

In my experience as a coach, it’s very important to ensure this “confidence” is coming from a place of competence. Be confident in your capabilities but never in a way that shows arrogance or cockiness. In a new and bigger role humility and self-awareness are more valuable than confidence, especially if the confidence is misrepresented. You don’t have to know everything - you have to know how to enable your team to handle anything. All of that said it’s important to keep the fear out of your eyes. Uncertainty is okay, but fear is readable and tangible. I like the idea of courage just as much as confidence - a willingness to act decisively in an unknown environment. Care and connect - the rest will come naturally.

Everyone knows that you're new to the role. The person with the highest expectations from you is probably yourself. Double down on your unique perspective that only your journey so far could have brought you. That's why you're in this role, that's all that everyone wants. Beware your coping mechanisms to undue stress and poor self-talk. Use assessments and your coach to figure this out and avoid sabotaging yourself.

A more senior role is the Executive's reminder to tap into their best version in order to lead better. Yet this does not mean that they are expected to be 100% ready for the role because if this is the case then the learning element will immediately be eliminated. Imposter syndrome is natural and in fact if deployed to a good use, it actually serves best the goal. Did you know that Imposter syndrome leaders perform better than the Dunning-kruger effect ones?

Empower clients to build confidence in their abilities to lead effectively. Katy Gala encourages clients to recognize their strengths, embrace authenticity, and develop a leadership presence that inspires trust and respect among their teams and peers.

This new leader must understand that what got them to the new position will not sustain so they must be open to learning. As a leader, people tend to look up to you for direction. 1. Know that a better leader listens, learns & then leads. You must intentionally listen to what your team is saying. 2. Know that a better leader tells people where they are going and knows how to get there. So when delivering the new vision, put some thought into the possible ways of reaching the destination or bringing it to reality.

Equip clients with essential leadership skills required for their new roles. Katy Gala focuses on continuous learning and skill enhancement in areas such as communication, decision-making, strategic thinking, and emotional intelligence, ensuring clients are well-prepared to handle diverse leadership challenges.

Adaptability is one of the top five non-negotiable Leadership traits. While most of Leaders are aware of it and might have it, little do they know that Adaptability does not mean adapting to Plan B if Plan A fails, it actually means that they will need to adapt to Plan Z if need be and as frequently and as fast as required.

When there is very often a great confusion between Potential and Performance amongst our leaders, the Learning Agility definition of Lominger gives an actionable description of Potential: How fast are you growing in your skills / behaviors? Ex: Bob may learn strategic thinking in 6 months and Dave in 2 years. Going a bit more in details, Learning Agility could be articulated around 4 sub categories: Mental Agility, People Agility, Change Agility & Results Agility. From those 4 sub categories it is quite straightforward to design questions to assess someone's potential with a focus on "How the person learnt / changed": "How fast (change of situation / behaviour), How difficult (id), How easy, or simply "How have you" etc...

Foster adaptability in leadership by helping clients embrace change and navigate uncertainty with resilience and agility. Katy Gala emphasizes the importance of flexibility, open-mindedness, and proactive problem-solving to thrive in dynamic business environments.

In my experience, strong individual contributors are promoted to leaders with the sponsorship of their manager. Once they are promoted into a Leadership position, it is critical they build a broader network of relationships to help them navigate the new role and provide support and feedback.

Fostering strong connections is key during any transition. It's not just about understanding the new role better; leadership is fundamentally about people and relationships. As a coach, I assist my clients in prioritising networking and being more strategic about it. By supporting my clients to build their network, they gain insights and credibility in their new leadership positions, ultimately boosting their confidence and influence.

Leading more also means humanizing more. More senior roles are not restricted to a richer repertoire of technical skillsets that could diffuse through the team but it also means building Trust with the team so that they can be held accountable of their challenging duties. A leader's success is measured equally by achieved roles and their outstanding empathetic leadership, even more compassionate leadership.

As a new leader, your job includes maximising your abilities & those reporting to you. But you could only successfully do this if you develop and foster genuine relationships with your team members. If you must go farther in your new position, go with a team.

Encourage clients to build strong, authentic relationships with their teams, peers, and stakeholders. Katy Gala believes that effective leadership is rooted in trust, empathy, and collaborative communication, fostering a positive and supportive work culture.

While a 100-day plan is good, the first 90-days in a new leadership role is critical to declare intent and focus, and demonstrate quickly the ability to succeed in the role. Like strategy, the plan is a living document that smart leaders continue to append and leverage to align and focused the team and the organization on sustainability, progress, and success. Don't keep that plan under lock and key - share it with everyone who will listen - for accountability and a way to foster collaboration and support beyond your immediate sphere of influence.

Anything new is unnerving and takes time to settle into. I like my clients to enter these new roles with confidence. 3 exercises I have them do: 1) Write down 5 things they have done well in their past roles. 2) Build awareness of their unique leadership strengths and values they stand for. This lends them a strong center as they navigate a new place 3) Build a plan on how they would develop authentic relationships in the new team and role.

Moving into a new leadership role raises expectations, hopes, fears and many more emotions in the people who are at the receiving end of your leadership practice. It is important to get a lay of the land in terms of these emotions and outline a personal change strategy that enables you to engage with people from where they are at. This will set the tone for you to establish trust, develop relationships and insights into the every day dynamics you are about to become part of or inherit.

The biggest tip is to not focus too much on the things obvious technical aspects but on the behavioral side which is far less obvious. Who has the power? Who wants power? Who feels left out? Who do you have to consult before making decisions? Who is resistant to change? Who will adapt to change? What’s the culture & why is it like that? Who should you hire? Who should you fire? Who’s on your side? Who wants to see you fail? For each of the above you must also know the WHY. Your success will be driven by how well you understand & manage this.

I think there is one step that has to come first that has not been mentioned. Why is the executive seeking your services? Was it suggested by their employer they get some coaching due to feedback? Did they have a choice, or was it required? if self selected, why? what do they think their need or objective is then you can do a needs assessment once you explore and understand how and why they got in front of you.

I found important to help my clients gain clarity on what they want to bring into their new roles — like their values, strengths, and bigger purpose as well as what they need to leave behind, including areas for development and mindset shifts.

Another thing to consider is honing your clients' emotional intelligence and resilience, which are vital elements in ensuring their success in new leadership roles. Guide clients to enhance their self-awareness, empathy, and adaptability, allowing them to effectively navigate interpersonal dynamics and build strong relationships. Coach them on managing their emotional responses in challenging situations. Share strategies for maintaining composure under pressure and coach them on employing problem-solving techniques to navigate adversity. Reinforce their ability to bounce back stronger from challenges, making them well-equipped leaders who can guide their team to achieve collective goals.