Executive Coaching for Gay Men

Today’s busy and demanding workplace, worldwide, is not what it was decades ago. Global competition among companies and the demands of all kinds of organizations put pressures on executives that they must respond to, often quickly, with their skills, knowledge, and talents. In my work in Executive Coaching, I often work with gay male executives who have what I call “high demand, high reward” jobs. Being in a leadership position can be very rewarding, with impact, salary, opportunity, and prestige, but many of these jobs can feel depleting because of the fast pace and scope of the daily work, often with much responsibility for projects, staff, resources, and financial profitability.

Add to this being a gay man, working in leadership positions in organizations where even a generation ago it would have been either more difficult or impossible to be “out” in the workplace, and gay male executives are dealing with an extra layer of challenge that straight male executives are privileged to not have to contend with.

Executive Coaching for gay men addresses both how to challenge the demands of the job and its workplace (such as using your skills, dealing with financial management, supervising staff, recruiting/hiring/firing employees, and hitting performance targets) as well as how to take care of yourself in the process, achieving work/life balance, and also dealing with any lingering dynamics of homophobia in the workplace, which still occurs despite formal legal protections in most states or countries.

Executive Coaching, I have found, provides a luxury of being a “safe space” in its strict confidentiality and privacy, for a gay male executive to be honest, frank, and, when necessary, vulnerable. It helps him be in the position of receiving guidance and support, when so often he is in the position of providing guidance and support to so many others, working with staff above him in the organization, with colleagues/peers, and with staff or clients. It’s very hard to be honest, frank, and vulnerable to coping with stress with any of those people, so having an Executive Coach supports not only your work role and goals, but doing so in the context of you being a human being with your own personal sense-of-self, being in a relationship (or pursuing one), or taking care of yourself so that your role as an executive is not the only aspect of your life that brings rewards.