“Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare.”
Patrick Lencioni
Patrick Lencioni
The Executive Team is the most important group in any organization. Its decisions have implications for every one of the organization’s stakeholders as well as for the future of the organization itself. Because of its impact on the organization and its stakeholders, it is imperative the Executive Team performs at its maximum potential.
If the members of an Executive Team work well together, and are focused on achieving the right organizational objectives, an Executive Team becomes a High Performance Team, dramatically improving organizational performance and profitability.
Yet, for a variety of interpersonal and operational reasons, most Executive Teams are poorly equipped to accomplish their objectives and fail to perform as High Performance Teams.
A powerful tool to assist the Executive Team in determining the organization’s objectives and how to best achieve them is Group Executive Coaching.
Executive Teams who receive effective Coaching begin to function as a High Performance Team and are more likely to achieve the organization’s objectives of growth and increased profitability.
Because Group Executive Coaching Does 6 Things Most Executive Teams Can’t Do:
Allows the Executive Team to break though any self-imposed limits and realize its potential as a High Performance Team that can transform the organization and its business. This can be accomplished with the assistance of a Group Executive Coach who challenges, supports, and facilitates the Executive Team's progress while holding the Executive Team accountable.ntty.
Assists the Executive Team to clarify what it wants to achieve (mission and objectives), why it wants to achieve it (purpose and strategic aims) and how it will go about achieving it (roles and processes; building organizational commitment; aligning with the organization’s stakeholders).
Group Executive Coaching assists the Executive Team to focus on achieving exceptional organizational performance by maximizing the effectiveness of the Executive Team as a whole and not just through the efforts of a few Executive Team Members.
Is focused on pre-determined measurable results: how the Executive Team is working together, making decisions, communicating collectively with stakeholders, is monitoring its progress and how it is improving the organization's people and processes. in rg.
Assists the Executive Team to be more innovative and creativity by introducing new concepts and ideas.
Assists the Executive Team in continually learning and unlearning how to make its Members and its organization better.
Our Group Executive Coaches are experienced in the areas of change management and group dynamics and have worked with a variety of organizations. This means they can act as an authoritative sounding board and present realistic alternative solutions for the Executive Team to consider as they develop organizational objectives and achieve appropriate outcomes.
The Executive Team and our Group Executive Coach jointly develop an Agreement setting forth the desired outcomes for the coaching engagement. Each Agreement is customized to focus the Executive Team and our Group Executive Coach on the outcomes the organization needs to achieve to thrive in the marketplace.
Based on our SWOT Analysis of the Executive Team, the characteristic s of the members of the Executive Team and their needs, individually and as a group, are determined and discussed with all Executive Team Members. This evaluation of Executive Team Members may require some Members of the Executive Team receive individual coaching in specific areas so they are better able to interact with other Members of the Executive Team and the organization’s stakeholders. Any Individual Executive Coaching is done by another Coach and not the Group Executive Team Coach.
Based on our SWOT Analysis of the organization, the strengths and weaknesses of the organization are identified as well as the internal & external barriers to organizational improvement. The data gathered from the organization’s SWOT Analysis, and shared/discussed with the Leadership Team, makes the Leadership Team aware of the issues facing the organization, as well as the necessity for the Leadership Team to become a High Performance Team and develop concrete Action Plans that address these issues and increase organizational performance.
Based on the organization’s SWOT Analysis, the Leadership Team chooses the top three issues that need to be resolved and determines the objectives that need to be reached to address each issue. Our Leadership Team Coach, using their “clean eyes” that are unencumbered by self-interest and with their only concern being the overall benefit of the organization, assists the Leadership Team determine the objectives that are realistic and meet the needs of the organization.
The Leadership Team, working with our Leadership Team Coach, creates three 12 month Action Plans to address the top three organizational issues, and identify the objectives needed to be reached to close “The Gap” between the current level of organizational performance and the required performance. To ensure the agreed upon objectives are achieved, the Action Plans include specific agreed upon objectives, deadlines, action steps, milestones and progress measurements. Members of the Leadership Team select an Action Plan to “own” and are responsible and accountable for achieving its objectives.
Our Leadership Team Coach observes the Leadership Team Meetings and/or Planning Sessions and then immediately conducts a debrief with the Leadership Team. This debrief includes:
Our Leadership Coach assists the Leadership Team develop communication plans that are customized to meet the needs of the organization’s various stakeholders (employees, Board of Directors, vendors, customers, the community) as the organization begins and proceeds through its improvement process.
Our Leadership Coach introduces the Leadership Team to the concept of High Performance Leadership Teams by presenting the Leadership Team with Case Studies and other learning opportunities.
Before a successful Coaching Process – one that accomplishes the Executive Team’s objectives – can begin, there must be a good “fit” between the Executive Team and the Group Executive Coach. This is established by the Executive Team reviewing the Group Executive Coach’s experience and expertise and having a face-to-face meeting with the Group Executive Coach. Because a successful coaching engagement requires a commitment by both the Executive Team and the Group Executive Coach, after the face-to-face meeting, the Executive Team and the Group Executive Coach must mutually decide if the necessary “fit” exists and if the Coaching Process will be beneficial to the Executive Team. If they agree it will be beneficial, then the Group Executive Coaching Process is ready to begin.
The maximum number of Executives for each Group Executive Coach is twelve.
The average length of time necessary for an Executive Team to achieve its objectives, with the assistance of a Group Executive Coach, is six months. The Group Executive Coach or the Executive Team may terminate the Coaching Agreement at any time if either party determines there is not enough value being realized from the Group Executive Coaching Process.
We recommend the organization’s primary stakeholders be a part of the Group Executive Coaching Process. Through customized communication programs, the stakeholders (i.e. owners, investors, employees, vendors) are advised about the organizational changes taking place and are asked to give periodic feedback concerning the progress being made to achieve the organization’s objectives. Executive Teams that communicate with, and receive feedback from, their primary stakeholders are more likely to achieve their objectives.
Our Group Executive Coach will attend every Executive Team Meeting.
Group Executive Coaching does not always improve an Executive Team’s performance or assist it in achieving it objectives. We will terminate a coaching engagement with an Executive Team if it becomes apparent it’s performance is not going to improve. Group Executive Coaching is effective only when:
The Executive Team, especially the organization’s leader (President, CEO, Owner), is committed to improvement and the change that inevitably must accompany that improvement.
When the Executive Team and the organization’s leader listen to and implements the recommendations of the Group Executive Coach, the Executive Team and the organization’s performance will improve. If the Executive Team and/or the organization’s leader does not listen or will not exert the effort necessary for change, then Group Executive Coaching is a waste of time and resources and should not continue.
Success is measured by an ongoing evaluation of how well the Executive Team is progressing at achieving the group objectives agreed upon with the Group Executive Coach at the beginning of the Group Executive Coaching process.
The fee for the Group Executive Coaching is based solely on what the Executive Team decides they need to accomplish through the Group Executive Coaching Process.
However, fifty per cent of any agreed upon fee is dependent upon the success the Executive Team has in reaching the objectives agreed to by the Executive Team and the Group Executive Coach.
If either the Executive Team or the Group Executive Coach decides to terminate the Coaching Agreement before the end of the time period set forth in the Coaching Agreement, the coaching fee owed is based on the percentage of time invested in the Group Executive Coaching process at the time of the decision to terminate the Coaching Agreement (i.e. if 30% of the time set forth in the Coaching Agreement has passed then 30% of the fee set forth in the Coaching Agreement will be paid).