Introducing Fatima Ibrahim, an ICF and ACTP accredited Executive Coach alongside being the Strategic Partner at Executive-Women and an award winning leader. Through extensive evaluation of executives’ professional lives and identification of their challenges, Fatima Ibrahim meticulously creates a fact- and solution-based successful path for them to follow.
In this interactive session, Fatima Ibrahim shares about her advent in the field of coaching, assisting executives towards a journey of self-realization, and including client feedback for ensuring better services, while offering invaluable suggestions for aspiring professionals.
Aiming Towards Authenticity
To get a glimpse of Fatima Ibrahim’s advent in this profession, we started the session by asking, “Could you share your journey as an executive coach and the motivation behind choosing this career path?”
Fatima Ibrahim responded, “Coaching comes to me naturally, and it’s an organic growth for my career, as I have been working in Human Resources for the past 24 years. I have worked with different kinds of companies’ leaders and different management styles, and I aim to bring more authenticity in leadership style among leaders.”
Assessing Inner Self
We were curious to learn how Fatima Ibrahim helps industry leaders in their personal development journey. So, we asked, “How do you help executives identify and overcome their blind spots in leadership and personal development?”
Fatima Ibrahim shared, “It depends on the person and the case that we are facing, mainly the self or the inner reflection techniques work the best. As every problem has a solution, it depends on the person and how he/she perceives it from the inside out not outside in. So the self-reflection questioning and coaching techniques are the most effective methods.”
Self-Realization Is The Key
In many situations, self-realization is the only factor that helps overcome a phase. We inquired, “In your coaching, how do you address the concepts of labeling and ego, and what impact do they have on an executive’s effectiveness?”
Fatima Ibrahim replied, “I don’t, my clients do, so during the coaching session, when judgments, labeling, and ego come out, through an effective questioning process my clients realize that these are affecting them and hindering their progress. Once they have reached that realization, they start to address matters differently.”
Emphasizing Authentic Leadership
As Fatima Ibrahim’s organization prioritizes authentic leaders, so, we asked, “Authentic leadership is a central theme in your coaching. Can you explain what it means to you and how you encourage your clients to embrace it?”
“Yes, it is the central theme in my coaching, so let’s first define what authenticity means. It means that you believe in what you want to do in life, you believe in the message that you want to pass through, and I work with my clients towards that belief that they have to bring more influence towards their teams and leadership style, and it is very important to differentiate when leaders are making decisions it comes from a safe place and not their EGOs.” Fatima Ibrahim replied.
Improving Communication Skills
Being an industry leader demands having efficient communication skills. To understand Fatima Ibrahim’s insights on this, we asked, “Public speaking is an area of expertise for you. What tips do you have for executives looking to improve their public speaking skills and confidence?”
Emphasizing executive presence, Fatima Ibrahim shared, “One of the most important things that leaders need to work on is their Executive Presence, which means, they have to work on their gravitas, expression, and authority. Once they have mastered these, their storytelling and speaking will be flawless on stage.”
Incorporating Client Feedback
Having client feedback sessions can uplift the services of any business. We asked, “How do you ensure that your coaching sessions remain relevant and impactful for your clients in today’s fast-paced business environment?”
Fatima Ibrahim replied, “I always have a feedback session with my clients, to understand and check in how their coaching went, what was their biggest takeaway from the session or coaching in general, we use the scaling method to materialize results and outcomes, I also hold them accountable towards their growth.”
Worth-Sharing Achievements, we asked Fatima Ibrahim
Eager to learn more about the triumphs of Fatima Ibrahim’s coaching, we asked, “Can you share a success story from your coaching career that highlights the transformational impact of your work?”
“One of the most famous stories that I like to share is one of my clients, after she was coached on internal branding, and how to be seen by seniors. Within 3 months she got promoted to take her boss’s position.” Fatima Ibrahim replied.
Adaptability Amidst Challenges
We further asked, “What are some common challenges you see executives facing today, and how do you approach these in your coaching?”
Fatima Ibrahim continued, “Three of the most common challenges executives face is their limited convictions, their ego and judgments. If you notice most of them are internal aspects to change, it depends on the client how fast he/she wants to overcome these challenges to move forward and grow. Sometimes these challenges are long embedded since childhood.”
Suggestions For Beginners
Lastly, addressing the aspiring beginners, we asked, “As an executive coach, what advice would you give to individuals aspiring to leadership roles in their careers?”
Fatima Ibrahim concluded, “Know how to navigate your way around your limitations, try to be seen, promote yourself and others, celebrate yourself and others.”
Follow Fatima Ibrahim on LinkedIn or visit http://www.fatimaibra.com/
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