Key Takeaways:
Five years ago, I was a manager of facilities and operations. Today, I’m an executive director of facilities management and planning. The gap between those titles represents more than promotion. It represents a deliberate investment in my development through executive coaching, the right mentors and commitment to building strategic leadership capacity in my industry.
I want to talk about something facilities professionals may highly benefit from. Executive coaching isn’t a corrective action for struggling managers. It’s a strategic investment in leadership development that separates organizations that thrive from organizations that survive.
When I started my coaching five years ago, I wanted growth and the path to self-mastery and elevation. Although I was capable in my role, as a lifetime learner, I knew it was about me finding ways to work on the limitations of my own perspective, at times, constrained by how I would always approach challenges, and unable to see possibilities outside my experience. I decided to seek out resources I could attach myself to guide me. That’s when I reached out to a professional coach that helped me identify those limits and move beyond them.
At first, I didn’t fully understand the value initially. Coaching felt like something for executives at Fortune 500 companies, not nonprofit facilities managers. But my organization, at the time, was advocating for its employees to take part and as a benefit to the employee professional coaching was available at no cost! They provided access to professional coaching because they believed developing their people mattered more than saving the coaching budget.
That investment changed everything.
What I discovered was that executive coaching is not therapy, though it can feel emotionally supportive. It’s not training, though you learn constantly. It’s not mentorship, though mentors play a crucial role. Coaching is a structured partnership with a professional who asks better questions, challenges your assumptions and helps you develop capabilities you didn’t know you had. It’s someone outside your organization who can be honest with you in ways colleagues sometimes can’t.
Over five years, my coach helped me articulate my leadership philosophy. She helped me navigate organizational politics without losing my integrity. She helped me develop genuine presence showing up authentically in high stake situations. She helped me think strategically about my career, not just manage my current role.
Most importantly, she helped me believe I could move into executive leadership when I was ready. That belief mattered more than any skill.
Organizations investing in executive coaching for facilities managers send a clear message that we see your potential. We want to develop you. We are committed to building leadership capacity from within. That message changes how people show up. It changes retention. It changes who stays in facilities management versus leaving for other fields.
I watch facilities teams where the only development conversation happens during performance reviews. Feedback through these basic standard tools is valuable, but it’s not development. It’s not building future leaders. It’s managing current performance.
Real development happens continuously. It happens when managers have access to coaches who help them think bigger. It happens when organizations create structures where technical experts can transition into leadership roles without feeling like they’re abandoning their expertise. It happens when coaching is positioned as normal leadership development, not remedial action.
This ties directly to succession planning. If you want women, if you want diverse voices, if you want thoughtful leaders stepping into facilities management roles you need to develop them. You have to invest in their growth before you need them. You have to show emerging leaders that facilities management has a future worth committing to.
I’m not suggesting every facilities manager needs executive coaching immediately. But every facilities organization should have access to coaching for emerging leaders. For people showing potential. For technical experts ready to move into leadership. For managers wanting to develop executive presence.
The facilities profession needs this. We need leaders who aren’t just good at maintaining buildings but who think strategically about organizational impact. We need people who can sit at leadership tables and influence decisions affecting facilities operations.
Executive coaching creates pathways for that. It develops leaders from within. It signals that facilities management has a future worth investing in.
Organizations, invest in coaching for your facilities leaders. Facilities managers, ask for it. Seek it out. Commit to your own development beyond your current role. That’s how we build the leadership pool our profession desperately needs.
Maria Ruiz is a Facilities Operations Manager at UNICEF USA with 15+ years of cross-sector expertise. Overseeing multiple national offices, she applies Lean Six Sigma methodologies to create sustainable, efficient workspaces supporting humanitarian missions. Her writing champions women in facilities management by blending technical knowledge with practical insights that empower professionals in this traditionally male-dominated field.
