When Is the Right Time to Ask for Help?

During my younger years, I loved playing sports, and I was an athlete in high school, college, and even during my time in the Army. Whether playing team or individual sports, my coaches were instrumental in helping me master my skills, identifying my weaknesses, providing structured programs to overcome them, and holding me accountable for my performance. I never hesitated to seek their guidance; their coaching helped me achieve incredible results.
As I progressed in my Army career, my competitive spirit remained, and I aspired to become the best officer I could be. My career goal was to lead the 16th Military Police Brigade at Fort Bragg, North Carolina – the only paratrooper military police unit in the Army. To achieve this, I sought out, just as many of my peers did, mentors – senior officers who could guide me through my career, offering honest feedback about my leadership weaknesses and providing strategies to overcome them. These mentors were necessary to achieve my goal.
Upon leaving the Army and attaining a senior executive role in a billion-dollar corporation, I observed that many of my peers were reluctant to employ an executive business coach to aid them with the daily challenges of being a CEO or business unit president. Despite encountering the same struggles as other senior executives, such as leadership competency, organizational design, productivity, quality, financial discipline, and morale, they often opted for subpar solutions and refrained from seeking help. Regrettably, this unwillingness to seek assistance hurt their company, team, and customers.
Having never been a CEO and business unit president before being promoted to these positions, I knew mentoring and coaching would help me achieve my desired success. That’s why I took the initiative to join a peer advisory group led by an executive coach. My peers and coach’s guidance and support were invaluable in helping me shape plans, policies, executive hires, contract negotiations, and organizational design and address challenges with leaders and employees. I brought my ideas to the table and received candid feedback, which allowed me to refine my approach and achieve even greater success. And because of my experiences, I was able to pay it forward and assist several of my peers with similar issues by challenging their ideas and sharing what had and hadn’t worked for me.
As you know, world-class athletes seek the help of coaches to maximize their performance and achieve outstanding results. So too, for you, hiring a coach can bring significant benefits at any executive seniority level. A coach can assist in uncovering hidden challenges that may affect your company’s profitability, employee retention, productivity, output, morale, and customer retention. As a CEO, executive, or business owner, when is the appropriate time to seek assistance to lead your company toward incredible outcomes? Why not now?
COL Paul A. Raggio (Ret), the owner of Five Star Leader Development, is a fractional CEO/COO who develops C-Suite executives, business owners, and their management teams on leadership, management principles, and best business practices. His email address is paul@fivestarleaderdevelopment.com, and his phone number is (252) 571-7368. Visit his website at https://www.fivestarleaderdevelopment.com.