What is the big deal about corporate coaching, asked Rohan Verma. Why should I spend my time and money on something that I already know? You think a coach would know more about me than I do?

Devika could not help but smile. She could understand where these questions were coming from because two weeks ago, she had similar thoughts. However, she is a changed person now.

Just try once, she said.

Reluctantly, Rohan accepted the idea and went to meet the coach the next day. He was stiff and not willing to cooperate.

The coach tried to put him in a comfortable space by casually chit chatting for first 5 minutes. Rohan still did not seem convinced.

His dismissive attitude towards the coach and whole idea was evident.
But the coach was not the one to budge.

She asked, how was the performance of the company last quarter?

A question as blunt as that took Rohan by surprise. He had no convincing response because he knew the company had suffered a heavy loss.

However, he was quick to blame the marketing team for their poor strategy and execution.

Who do you think is the top official here?

Well, he was the CEO. So, it has to be him.

Who is responsible for the work they do too?

How satisfied did you feel with their plans?

Who gave approval to their way of marketing?

How timely was the questioning & monitoring the status of sales of the products?

Rohan didn’t have an answer.

And finally, the coach asked again, “Who is the top official here?”

Rohan paused a minute. Sipped some water from the bottle he had got for himself. It appeared as if he just had an epiphany.

He drank some more water and said, Thank you, coach!

Yes, such things happen when you take a break from the routine and ponder or when some outsider comes and asks you a simple question.

It makes you question what you have been doing all the while. Where you have gone wrong. Where you could have some improvement. No one is perfect.

A so-called control freak like Rohan could also have some incorrect assumptions. At the same time, for all the stiffness he carried around, he would have probably needed someone to talk to him. Someone to tell him what he needed to be told. Someone to hear, what he wants to say — not just at the professional level, but in a very that helps you bring out your inner voice.

As a corporate coach, I come across different people on a regular basis. And these are people who take decisions that can make or break a company. A company that runs the lives of so many employees. A company that consumers put their faith in.

A person at such a level in the scheme of things has to be able to make level-headed decisions.

A corporate coach won’t really tell you what business decisions to take. You would know that better, but a coach can be that friend/philosopher/guide that you have heard of.

Someone who could help you face your professional fears. Someone who makes you aware of what you already know somewhere deep inside.

Rohan did not become the CEO of a top FMCG company overnight. He had worked day and night to reach a level like that.

But a short session with a coach suddenly made him realize things that probably a textbook can’t.

As he sipped water, Rohan asked the coach whether he could leave before the stipulated time. He thanked the coach again and fixed the next meeting then and there.

What hit Rohan? What did he suddenly realize?

Find out in the next part of the series.