Executive Coaching Process

Why Coaching?

Many executives find themselves caught up in a frenzy of activity that leaves them going from one meeting to the next with little time to strategize and be proactive. Coaching allows them to create within their busy schedules the time necessary to remain focused and clear on their priorities.

The more senior the executive, the less likely it is that he or she will get honest, direct feedback from people who often end up saying only what they believe the executive wants to hear. Executive coaching enables leaders to address their blind spots and become aware of the behavior and action their teams, organizations and customers need most from them to produce bottom line business results.

Many executives don’t have the time to go to developmental workshops or seminars, or are frustrated to find that those they do attend only partially address their most significant issues. Executive coaching offers a custom-tailored leadership development process that allows them to get right to the heart of their challenges and tackle real issues in real time. Rather than being event driven, coaching is a process that helps executives to take the ongoing action necessary to create change.

Executives can often benefit from having a neutral, third party sounding board that does not have a vested interest. Coaches provide their clients opportunities not only to talk through ideas or potential decisions, but also to think of things in ways they hadn’t before, bridging important gaps and ensuring that their approaches are solidly positioned for success.

What Is Executive Coaching?

Executive coaching is an ongoing, custom tailored leadership development process that allows individuals to achieve higher performance and satisfaction by becoming focused on their goals and taking steps to create alignment with their desired results. The process allows leaders to identify and overcome limiting assumptions and patterns and take steps to address real challenges and opportunities as they emerge. As a result, clients gain a heightened self awareness that allows them to build better relationships, have greater influence, make better decisions, access higher levels of creativity, communicate more effectively, and achieve longer lasting, more significant results with less effort.

Executives come to coaching with a variety of objectives. Here are some examples:

• Improving business performance and productivity
• Strengthening key relationships and interpersonal skills
• Sharpening communication and influence skills
• Building stronger teams
• Delegating more effectively
• Changing organizational culture
• Making better decisions
• Constructively working through conflicts
• Better time management and/or work-life balance
• Designing, proposing, and/or implementing projects and initiatives
• Navigating a career transition

What Is Involved in the Coaching Process?

(1) Discovery

Coaching is designed to help clients bridge the gap from where they are to where they want to be. The first step is to help the client get focused on desired results, and complement this vision with increased self-awareness.  Performance assessments can be utilized to help clients increase awareness and knowledge to improve their understanding of their behavior and in what ways their styles and motivations are similar to or different from others.  As a result, they are able to improve their working relationships and leverage their own unique way of doing things to achieve better results.

Two performance assessments that are available include the DISC and the Workplace Motivators assessments. These assessments are reviewed in a three to four-hour coaching kickoff meeting, designed to help clients get a solid start on their coaching process. The process can be enhanced with a 360 degree feedback process which allows executives to gain a better understanding of how they are perceived by others, including their boss, peers, customers, and direct reports.

(2) Regular Meetings

Clients meet with their coach twice a month for one hour to explore challenges and opportunities and identify approaches to dealing with everyday occurrences that help them maintain focus, accountability and action toward their vision and objectives. Through dialogue, the coach helps the client gain insight into his or her patterns, habits and assumptions and take steps to align thoughts and actions with desired results. The coach also serves as an objective sounding board, helping clients to consider things they may otherwise have overlooked, and challenging them to stretch themselves and think bigger and bolder.

(3) Measurement

It is important for clients to recognize the progress they have made toward their goals. We accomplish this by helping them to identify milestones in their own development, and to articulate how their new behaviors translate into results. While some of these results can be quantifiably measured, others are only qualitative. In either case, we work with clients to translate the value of their coaching experience in business terms. This can be greatly enhanced with the use of a follow-up 360 degree feedback process, which gathers input from people the client interfaces with most, including his or her boss, direct reports, peers, and customers.

What Does It Take to Make Coaching Work?

The prerequisite for successful coaching is that the executive is willing to explore his or her own effectiveness and devote the time and energy necessary to focus, reflect and act to take it to an even higher level.

How Do I Get Started?

Contact us to find out more about our six and twelve month packages. All services are fully customizable and can be adjusted to fit your needs.