A Day in the Life Of...
A Leadership & Team Performance Coach
By Tammy Sofranic
Coaching! Everyone talks about it - but what do coaches REALLY do? Firstly many types of coaches specialise in different fields such as business sports health finances and many others.
We caught up with a coach who has significant experience in leadership and team performance. Read on to learn all the in's and out's of having this career.
BRENDAN ROGERS: LEADERSHIP & TEAM PERFORMANCE COACH
Can you describe a typical day on the job?
My day/week involves a selection of these typically:
- Leadership development coaching session with clients.
- Preparing and running leadership development workshops or offsite client programs.
- Running a podcast (guest booking research interview post-production) – some of these tasks are outsourced.
- Blog writing content writing & creation of marketing material (outsourced to copywriter & graphic designer).
- Running a YouTube channel (video creation & post-production - video post-production is outsourced).
- Running networking events (marketing & network building).
Why did you choose this career path? What or who inspired you to do so?
I spent 22 years working for global shipping companies and leading teams/projects. For the last four years of my corporate life I experienced first-hand the impact of poor leadership and the impact it has on people. I committed to helping leaders become more effective and teams become less dysfunctional so people at work would be happier.
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ARE SOME KEY PERSONALITY ASPECTS OR SKILLS FOR YOUR ROLE?
The three key behaviours you must have to be a successful consultant are humility (put other people’s needs ahead of your own) a great work ethic (be self-driven) and you need great emotional intelligence (having a common sense with people).
What have you learned about yourself through the work that you do?
Every day I learn that you always have to be curious about people and not judgemental. Being judgemental means you never get to the root of a person’s concerns or you will never really understand their perspective. Not being curious also means you won’t uncover the ‘real’ issues to help clients.
What’s been your best moment while doing your work?
There have been several of these best moments but they always revolve around supporting the leader to uncover team members who aren’t aligned with the organisations' behaviours. This ultimately ends up with the person making a decision to move to another employer. These people leaving always ends up with the team working far more effectively.
And a difficult moment?
It is when I see a person putting their interests ahead of the team. There have been several of these and working through these always ends up as the best moment – they either learn to change and start to put the team first or they realise they can’t so they need to move on.
How do you keep going when things get really challenging?
I always trust the process. I know that if I am doing the right things and taking the right actions the outcomes take care of themselves. I have a strong support network around me with my family business partner mentors and a strong professional network throughout networking events.
ARE THERE ANY SURPRISING OR ODD THINGS THAT PEOPLE WOULDN’T EXPECT IF THEY PICKED THIS CAREER?
Most people who go into the consulting world think they can have a lifestyle that gives them flexibility and they can choose when they want to work. This is possible but there is a hell of a lot of work to do for many years to get to that point….and you will only get there if you work hard and take the right actions.
What advice would you give to young people thinking of pursuing a career in this industry?
Read books watch videos practice & learn as much about leadership as you can & get a mentor/s.
