I have never wanted to be one of those executive coaches, so caught up in her own rhetoric and having drank from the Kool-Aid of a million other experts, that she passionately evangelizes on why everyone needs what she has to offer. To everyone she meets. In every setting. All the time. Nope, that’s definitely not me.

In an effort to be true to myself, then, I’d like to tell you why you don’t need a coach.

• You look in the mirror every day and like what you see. You are aware of your strengths, your flat sides, and your blind spots. You own your talents and gifts and have worked on the things you can change and have accepted those you cannot.
• You have a productive working relationship with your board. They are aligned with your vision for the organization and support you in your efforts to achieve it 100%. There is no doubt in their minds that you are capable of driving results.
• You have achieved the results you desire in your organization. You are routinely meeting or exceeding your targets and you are adept at handling obstacles and mitigating risk.
• You have a solid ELT, comprised of people you have hand-selected who are fully onboard, work effectively together in support of enterprise objectives, and have the skill to communicate and cascade vision and strategies in such a way that their teams can execute effectively.
• You routinely make sound decisions with the appropriate amount of analysis to support them. You make these decisions in a timely way and communicate them to constituents, stakeholders, and others in a way that achieves buy-in.
• You never have moments of self-doubt or times when you need a sounding board but have no one to confide in or trust to tell you the honest, if not painful, truth. And then stand beside you as you deal with the implications of that truth.

If you fit this picture, please don’t call me. I have nothing to offer you.