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For soft skills, I would recommend reading The Case for Servant Leadership by Ken Keith. Take the Strengths Finder survey and get the full assessment. If you ca

For soft skills, I would recommend reading The Case for Servant Leadership by Ken Keith. Take the Strengths Finder survey and get the full assessment. If you can afford it, find an executive coach to help you developing a learning plan to develop your soft skills. Also look for networking groups that might have soft skills seminars. I am a board member for one and we meet monthly and have guest speakers that talk about leadership, communications, networking, etc.

throw1234651234 6y ago
I really wonder if anyone not hand-picked for an Olympic team / for a position through nepotism ever got ANY benefit from "coaches".
- vessenes 6y ago
  I will treat this as a real question. The answer in my case is yes. Many, many senior executives, founders and owners benefit from coaching, and pay at times thousands per hour to be coached. In fact a famous coach in Silicon Valley was so well loved his coachees (including google founders) wrote a book about him to thank him. To paraphrase Dune, the first lesson is learning how to learn. Put another way, an insightful person rooting for you and kicking your ass can have a profound impact on your life. I recommend it!
  - throw1234651234 6y ago
    It's a serious question. I see virtually every "coach" as a scam artist who would be doing what they coach if they could. The few legitimate coaches out there are prohibitively expensive. Of course, that's just my take on it.
    - alistairSH 6y ago
      That's at least partially true. There are lots of "life coaches" out there who may have a certificate in coaching, but not a degree in related field and no professional license (like a licensed social worker or therapist). Some are good, some are no better than your best friend, only anonymous-ish (I guess there's some value there). But, there are legit coaching programs out there (Georgetown has one of them). While not full degree programs, the end product (ie, the coach graduates) can be very good. And getting value from a coach is a 2-way exercise. They won't transform you into your best self without work from you. You need to have problems that need solving, you need to put work into discussing them, and then you need to execute when you're back in the office.
    - Aeolun 6y ago
      I think it works the same way that a psychologist works. You’re partially paying them to just be an impartial generator of feedback. You cannot get that anywhere within your organization or circle of friends.
    - vessenes 6y ago
      If you log back in, here's how I would think about it. Imagine yourself at peak personal and work performance. Do you have a sort of a 'type' or person that comes to mind? e.g. Perhaps you're into building content based communities, and Alexis Ohanian comes to mind. Find out who advised and coached Mr. Ohanian in the early days of launching reddit. Can you imagine wanting that person's input into your life, and how it might help you? That's the sort of person I'm thinking of when we talk executive coaching. The other kind, to parody, a sort of failed masseuse and mid-tier office worker turned coach is not at all the sort that I think would generally move the needle for someone interested in the tech startup world.
werber 6y ago
What does an executive coach do? Very interested
meristem 6y ago
1. Strengths Finder from Gallup was very revealing. I also recommend getting the 34 strength full profile, although the 5 will already give you a lot to think about. 2. Do you have/can you get a mentor in the bank, preferably 3 levels above you? 3. Ask yourself why you want to move to management. The answers will guide you in terms of who could be a good coach. Ask for references and talk to those people.
manishsharan 6y ago
Thank you ! I am going to do the Strengths Finder Survey. I am also very interested in the networking groups what could help. If your group has a Toronto chapter , I would very much like to join it.

throw1234651234 6y ago

I really wonder if anyone not hand-picked for an Olympic team / for a position through nepotism ever got ANY benefit from "coaches".

vessenes 6y ago
I will treat this as a real question. The answer in my case is yes. Many, many senior executives, founders and owners benefit from coaching, and pay at times thousands per hour to be coached. In fact a famous coach in Silicon Valley was so well loved his coachees (including google founders) wrote a book about him to thank him. To paraphrase Dune, the first lesson is learning how to learn. Put another way, an insightful person rooting for you and kicking your ass can have a profound impact on your life. I recommend it!
- throw1234651234 6y ago
  It's a serious question. I see virtually every "coach" as a scam artist who would be doing what they coach if they could. The few legitimate coaches out there are prohibitively expensive. Of course, that's just my take on it.
  - alistairSH 6y ago
    That's at least partially true. There are lots of "life coaches" out there who may have a certificate in coaching, but not a degree in related field and no professional license (like a licensed social worker or therapist). Some are good, some are no better than your best friend, only anonymous-ish (I guess there's some value there). But, there are legit coaching programs out there (Georgetown has one of them). While not full degree programs, the end product (ie, the coach graduates) can be very good. And getting value from a coach is a 2-way exercise. They won't transform you into your best self without work from you. You need to have problems that need solving, you need to put work into discussing them, and then you need to execute when you're back in the office.
  - Aeolun 6y ago
    I think it works the same way that a psychologist works. You’re partially paying them to just be an impartial generator of feedback. You cannot get that anywhere within your organization or circle of friends.
  - vessenes 6y ago
    If you log back in, here's how I would think about it. Imagine yourself at peak personal and work performance. Do you have a sort of a 'type' or person that comes to mind? e.g. Perhaps you're into building content based communities, and Alexis Ohanian comes to mind. Find out who advised and coached Mr. Ohanian in the early days of launching reddit. Can you imagine wanting that person's input into your life, and how it might help you? That's the sort of person I'm thinking of when we talk executive coaching. The other kind, to parody, a sort of failed masseuse and mid-tier office worker turned coach is not at all the sort that I think would generally move the needle for someone interested in the tech startup world.

werber 6y ago

What does an executive coach do? Very interested

meristem 6y ago

1. Strengths Finder from Gallup was very revealing. I also recommend getting the 34 strength full profile, although the 5 will already give you a lot to think about. 2. Do you have/can you get a mentor in the bank, preferably 3 levels above you? 3. Ask yourself why you want to move to management. The answers will guide you in terms of who could be a good coach. Ask for references and talk to those people.

manishsharan 6y ago

Thank you ! I am going to do the Strengths Finder Survey. I am also very interested in the networking groups what could help. If your group has a Toronto chapter , I would very much like to join it.