I want to introduce you to Malcolm, the founder and CEO of Alva Labs.

Alva Labs is an information-technology consulting firm in Stockholm, Sweden, that Malcolm started back in 2017. Malcolm set out to achieve a breakthrough in the hiring process – he wanted to connect organizations with people looking to fill their open positions. But not just any people, and not just any organizations.

Malcolm had a mission to help people find their dream jobs at organizations who needed their skill sets.

A big idea like that was going to require a big team. As the company grew, Malcolm saw the need for him to elevate his skills as a leader. So he did what many leaders do when they need to improve – he partnered with a coach.

And that coach revolutionized Malcolm’s leadership paradigm so much that after only 2 sessions, he decided he wanted to implement company-wide coaching for Alva Labs.

According to Linnea, the Head of People at Alva Labs and Malcolm’s coach, her sessions with Alva’s teams have improved morale.

“Employees… feel better supported, which will manifest in higher levels of engagement, improved self-leadership, and awareness—and they’ll be less likely to burn out.”

Coaching has been known to have many other benefits, including clearer and more consistent communication between team members, resulting in better team dynamics, improved decision-making abilities and problem-solving skills, better time management, increased productivity, and personal and professional goal achievement.

Is that something you want for your organization?

Then I highly recommend hiring a trusted, professional coach!

Some leaders are hesitant to bring on a coach.

They may not see how coaching is valuable to them. These leaders are experiencing the pain of “we don’t know what we don’t know” – in other words, we never get answers to the questions we don’t think to ask, and we will never gain the awareness we do not know to seek.

These leaders have problems in the workplace but do not know that those problems are manifestations of deeper issues – like symptoms pointing to an underlying disease that coaching can help them find and cure.

Perhaps some leaders believe that they are too busy to set aside time for coaching. And it is true that many leaders have cramped schedules; some of us even take projects home and work into the late hours to make sure it all gets done.

But coaching is a productivity multiplier – it is one of those activities which helps us see new ways to accomplish things and gain awareness of what is really taking up our time. It is too valuable not to set aside time for.

Maybe some leaders do not engage with a coach because they do not like to be vulnerable or they see taking on coaching as a sign of weakness. They think because they lead others they cannot accept guidance from others.

But oddly enough, all a coach is meant to do – if they are a good coach – is help the leader better understand themselves, and bring out the excellence they are not yet aware of.

But for many, maybe most, it is likely an issue of cost.

Some organizations offer a limited employee development budget, if any, making it a difficult financial decision to spend on development opportunities – on the front end, at least.

On the back end it seems less like an expense and more like an investment. And as Warren Buffett once said, “The best investment you can make is an investment in yourself.”

On his decision to implement company-wide coaching for Alva, Malcolm said,

”It’s the leader’s responsibility to set an example, and I led the way by implementing a process that has been transformative in my own life.”

He valued his development and his team’s development – and today, they are seeing better results because of it.

And if you want to get started hitting your next level, my schedule is open – you can book a free strategy call with me and together we’ll discuss you and your team’s goals and how I can help you achieve them.

That’s all for now,

Florin