For the last few months I have had the opportunity to mentor/coach a young leader in the health care industry. In our coaching session today I became very aware of a great reason and challenge of coaching: accountability. Not accountability for the client but for me the mentor/coach. The client is looking to me to be the example so I cannot (or should not) suggest steps for improvement and other action items that I am not willing to take. Really that is wrong I should not suggest action items to my client that I am not already doing.

The same principle applies to how I lead my team at my office. I fail if I ask of my team something that I am not modeling.

Being in a mentor/coach relationship or leading teams has its challenges and takes extra work: prep time, extra reading, and setting agendas. However the extra work is outweighed by the reward of witnessing successful teams and seeing clients become effective leaders.