The Future of Business Coaching with Glenn Gow

In this episode of The Lindsey Anderson Show, I’m joined by Glenn Gow, an accomplished CEO success coach and AI expert with over 25 years of experience. Glenn shares his valuable insights on how CEOs can leverage AI to boost productivity and enhance business operations. He also delves into the future of business coaching, and the CEO mindset that leaders must embrace to overcome new business challenges. This conversation is full of actionable advice for scaling your business and embracing personal growth as a leader.

Guest Introduction:

Glenn Gow is a Harvard MBA, CEO success coach, and AI expert with 25 years of experience as a CEO. He has spent five years as a venture capitalist and has advised major tech companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Glenn is also a columnist for Forbes and has spoken at significant events, such as the Wall Street Journal AI Conference and Harvard Business School. He’s passionate about helping CEOs grow, evolve, and overcome challenges in today’s business world. 

The Future of Business Coaching – Key Takeaways:

• AI as a Tool for CEOs: Glenn describes AI as an intern—smart but imperfect. While AI can greatly enhance productivity, CEOs must remain mindful of its limitations and always check its work.
• The CEO Mindset: CEOs need to evolve from being experts in one area (like engineering) to managing multiple aspects of the business, including marketing, sales, HR, and finance. It’s all about personal growth to handle these new responsibilities.
• Delegation is Key: CEOs must master the art of delegation to avoid burnout. Shifting from micromanaging to empowering their teams allows CEOs to focus on higher-level decisions and scale their business more effectively.
• AI in CEO Coaching: Although AI tools can offer useful insights, the future of CEO coaching lies in building deep, personal relationships. These connections are what drive real, meaningful change in leadership and business transformation.

Coaching Insights:

• Mindset Shift for CEOs: Glenn emphasizes that CEOs, like athletes, need coaches to continue improving even when they’re already at the top of their game. A transformational coach helps you reach even higher levels of performance.
• Breaking Patterns for Growth: CEOs often fall into patterns of success that no longer serve them. A coach helps them identify and break those patterns to continue moving forward with new strategies for business scaling.
• Developing Leadership Teams: Glenn stresses that one of a CEO’s primary roles is to hire and nurture a leadership team that is stronger than themselves in specific areas of the business. This is essential to scaling the business and driving long-term success.

Key Stories:

• A CEO’s Breakthrough Moment: Glenn shares a powerful story of a CEO who raised $150M instead of $50M by shifting his mindset and approach with the board. This CEO moved from asking for permission to confidently declaring his plan, which earned the board’s trust and led to massive success. A great example of how coaching and a mindset shift lead to transformational growth.
• The Bark vs. Forest Analogy: Glenn uses this analogy to explain how CEOs often get stuck in the details (the bark) and miss the bigger picture (the forest). A coach’s external perspective helps CEOs refocus and solve the right problems, enabling them to scale their business successfully.

Overcoming Common CEO Obstacles:

• Overwhelm: Many CEOs feel responsible for everything, which leads to overwhelm and burnout. Glenn recommends using the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) framework to help CEOs prioritize their goals and reduce stress. This is essential for scaling a business effectively and avoiding burnout.
• Team Building: CEOs often face challenges with underperforming employees. Glenn advocates for addressing these issues directly, either by managing the individual differently or parting ways to bring in stronger talent. Building the right team is critical to business scaling.
• AI in Business: Glenn talks about how AI can streamline operations and increase productivity, but also addresses the challenges CEOs face when integrating AI into their business processes. AI can be a powerful tool for business scaling if leveraged correctly.

Key Quotes:

• “Every great athlete has a coach. Even if you’re already the best, a coach helps you become even better.”
• “Being a CEO is about growth—if you’re not constantly improving, you’re stuck in your own patterns.”
• “The future of CEO coaching is about building a deep, personal relationship where the real issues can be addressed—AI can’t replace that.”
• “It’s okay to make mistakes. They don’t define you. There’s always a new opportunity to create something great.”

Resources Mentioned:

• Follow Glenn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngow 
• Apply for a complimentary CEO Coaching session with Glenn: https://www.glenngow.com/apply-for-ceo-coaching-session 
• Join my upcoming free LIVE workshop: https://www.lindseya.com/workshop