Executive Coaching
In the increasingly fast-paced, complex and pressured corporate world there are few places where an executive or senior manager can step back and reflect on the range of issues facing them. To do this with colleagues is often impossible and those executives who choose not to share their concerns with spouses and families generally must hold onto their own counsel often for months or even years at a time. Executive coaching offers a different possibility – the opportunity, in a safe and confidential environment, to have an independent sounding board and strategic partner.
How Executive Coaching Works
The first stage of any executive coaching process is the assessment of needs i.e. to identify as clearly as possible the persons’ coaching agendas whether they be business issues, leadership development or a mixture of both. Following this, a contract for an agreed series of sessions is arranged.
Often it is a good idea for some or most of these sessions to be held off-site in order to protect the time and give the executive more opportunity to reflect on the session. From the coach’s point of view, it is sometimes helpful for one or two sessions to be held at the manager’s office in order to get a better feel for the organisational context. Each session lasts between 2-2½ hours, with intervals of between four and eight weeks.
Our Coaching Philosophy
Our own strongest influences derive from the rich professional disciplines of organisational development, change management, management and leadership development, consulting psychology, assessment/feedback processes, and counselling/psychotherapy, particularly Gestalt.
Those who believe coaching is simply about setting and achieving goals may wonder why we believe it is important to have such an in-depth background. The reason is that corporate coaching has become an increasingly complex activity. A single executive client may at some time bring any or all of the following issues to his or her coaching sessions:
- How to create a more performance and customer focused culture
- How to improve top team performance
- What to do about an under-performing director or senior manager
- How to change personal behavioural patterns
- How to be more influential and grow leadership presence
- How to be more strategic
- How to create better work/life balance
- How to position for the next job
- Whether to stay in corporate life or make a radical change of lifestyle
This range of themes includes strategic management issues, team performance, behavioural change, leadership development, work/life balance, career progression and personal meaning-making. Successful executive coaches therefore require a sophisticated understanding of both organisations as well as individuals. Those without this will soon find themselves out of their depth.
The Psychology of Coaching
It is our view that coaching issues invariably have a psychological and emotional dimension. Indeed, they often reside one or more levels deeper than the presenting issue. This may manifest in the very way the client is framing or perceiving their issue, or in self limiting belief systems. It may also be in how the client feels about themselves, their colleagues or their work and life as a whole. It is often most obvious when an executive client attempts to change some long standing behavioural pattern and finds that they keep ‘reverting to type’. This is why we place such importance on the psychological and behavioural change skills of our courses.
We work in partnership with our clients to resolve not only today’s problems but also those of the future. Coaching is about taping into people’s capabilities and realising their potential. This results in improved capacity for growth for the individual, their team and the organisation as a whole.
Whether you’re interested in finding a coach for yourself or a colleague, or interested in exploring how you or organisation can get more from coaching, please request a call back, or get in contact.