A 2008 American Management Association Study found that organizations using Executive Coaching to develop their executive teams and managers perform better in revenue growth, market share, profitability, and customer satisfaction than companies not using coaching.
To thrive in the Information Economy, organizations need to continually improve their people and their processes. Continual personnel and process improvement requires the organization’s Executive Team be constantly improving their managerial and leadership skillsets. A powerful tool to assist members of the Executive Team in improving their performance and then the performance of the people they manage and lead is Executive Coaching. Executives who receive effective coaching are more likely to achieve their goals and generate increased organizational success.
To Develop High Potential Executives by Determining Areas of Needed Improvement & Developing Action Plans to Improve Their Managerial and Leadership Skill Sets.
To Act as a Sounding Board for Executives to Discuss New Ideas/Concepts.
To Address an Executive’s Disruptive/Unproductive Behavior.
After a dialogue with an Executive Coach, the Executive sets the goals to be achieved through the Executive Coaching process. The Executive Coach then guides the process through which the established outcomes can be achieved.
To achieve the goal of assisting good Executives to become great, we employ a multi-step Executive Coaching Process that establishes where the Executive is in their professional development. We then determine what actions they must take, and what behaviors they must change, to get to where they and their organization need them to be.
These assessments are supplemented by a 360-degree review with the Executive’s primary stakeholders (i.e. manager, peers, and direct reports) and, if necessary, interviews with the primary stakeholders. Research establishes that Executive improvement doubles when Executive Coaching is associated with assessments and a 360-degree review.
Objectives for behavioral change and performance improvement are created, with the Executive, based on the assessment of the Executive’s strengths and weaknesses revealed by the diagnostic assessments and the 360-degree review.
Once the specific objectives are agreed upon between the Executive and the Executive Coach, an Action Plan, with specific action steps, milestones, deadlines, and measurements are developed and integrated into the Executive Coaching Process.
30- to 60-minute Executive Coaching Sessions, face-to-face and/or by phone are scheduled between the Executive and Executive Coach. While the content of each Executive Coaching Session is dependent upon the issue(s) the Executive is facing, the sessions always focus on the established Action Plan and what the Executive is doing to accomplish specific action steps.
To give greater context to the Executive Coaching Process, and as a follow-up to each Executive Coaching Session, the Executive will accomplish specific tasks before the next coaching session (i.e. recommended reading; implementation of an action step).
Based on the Executive’s objectives, additional coaching may be required (i.e. observing the Executive in meetings; helping them prepare for crucial conversations or presentations).
To effectively measure the results of the Executive Coaching Process, the Executive’s primary stakeholders will participate in a second 360-degree review at to the conclusion of the Coaching Process.
Before a successful Executive Coaching Process – one that accomplishes its objectives – can begin, there must be a good “fit” between the Executive and the Executive Coach. This “fit” is based on the right match of the Executive’s and the Executive Coach’s personalities, skills, qualifications, experiences and styles. For the Executive and the Executive Coach to determine if an initial “fit” exists, and a successful Executive Coaching Process is possible, the Executive must review the Executive Coach’s biography to determine the Executive Coach’s areas of expertise and experience and then have a face-to-face meeting or telephone interview with the Executive Coach. Because a successful Executive Coaching Process requires a commitment by both the Executive and the Executive Coach, after the interview the Executive and the Executive Coach must mutually decide if the necessary “fit” exists and the Coaching Process will be beneficial to the Executive. If they agree, then the Executive Coaching Process is ready to begin.
Because changing behavior and achieving required objectives takes time, an Executive must make an initial commitment of three months to the Executive Coaching Process. This allows sufficient time for the Executive Coach to help the Executive develop and implement an Action Plan based on new and sustainable behavior patterns across a wide range of managerial and leadership challenges. The Executive Coaching Process may terminate before the end of the three month period if the Executive or the Executive Coach determines there is not enough value being realized from the Executive Coaching Process.
The Executive’s objectives are made known to the Executive’s primary stakeholders (i.e. manager, peers, direct reports). These stakeholders will give periodic feedback concerning the Executive’s progress toward achieving their stated objectives. Executives who receive feedback and engage in follow-up with their primary stakeholders will almost always achieve positive change in their behavior and are more likely to achieve their objectives.
Executive Coaching Sessions take place at least twice a month, either in person or by phone. However, additional Executive Coaching Sessions may be scheduled if the Executive and the Executive Coaching believe they are necessary.
Executive Coaching does not always improve an Executive’s performance or assist them in reaching their objectives. The Executive Coach will terminate a coaching engagement with an Executive if it becomes apparent they are not going to improve. Executive Coaching is effective when:
When an Executive listens to the advice of their Executive Coach and puts in the effort necessary to change their behavior and reach their objectives, their performance will improve. If an Executive will not listen or will not exert the effort necessary for change, Executive Coaching is a waste of time and resources and should not continue.
Success is measured by an evaluation of how well the Executive has progressed at the completion of the coaching engagement as determined by the Executive and their primary stakeholders’ perceptions of behavioral changes and progress towards established objectives.
Because each Executive Coaching engagement is unique, no set fee can be established. However, fifty per cent of any fee for Executive Coaching is totally dependent upon the success of the Executive Coach in assisting the Executive reach the objectives established by the Executive and the Executive Coach the beginning of the Executive Coaching process.
