Why Executive Coaching?
Jack Welch, Chairman and CEO of General Electric 1981 – 2001, said it best:
“Being a leader [senior executive] changes everything. Before you are a leader, success is all about you. It’s about your performance, your contributions. It’s about getting called upon and having the right answers. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others. Your success as a leader comes not from what you do but from the reflected glory of the people you lead.”
The problem that many leaders face is not their ability to run a company but their inability to effectively lead and motivate their people. However, the very best leaders understand that in order to lead others, they first have to understand others; and to understand others, they first have to understand themselves. This means understanding their behaviours, their patterns, their strengths and their weaknesses and in my experience, most people claim to know this but in actual fact, they only have a surface understanding of their emotional makeup.
The Executive Coaching process:
As an Executive Coach, I guide my clients through a process designed to help them to learn new or improve existing skills or modify or change behaviour. Learning from their past, my clients are able to identify positive and negative patterns of behaviour and the impact of that behaviour. I help them to consider what is truly important to them, their values, their contribution to their world of their work, family, friends etc. Building on this knowledge, I help them to create a vision and importantly, to identify the blocks that may stop them from achieving their vision. Finally, I help them to create clear and specific action plan which when followed with focus and determination, will lead to the desired outcome.
How I work
As an Executive Coach, I work in close partnership with my clients. I make it my business to get to know my clients business and their personal situations just well enough to be able to be objective to their goals whilst sympathetic to their challenges. My intention is to help my clients to achieve the results they aspire to reach and to help them to achieve their full potential.
Can we work together?
The relationship between the coach and the client is a critical factor. I recommend that before reaching an agreement to work together, we have a 30 minute telephone conversation to help me to gain an understanding of what it is you want to achieve and for you to learn a little more about me, my background etc.
The what, where, when and how?
I prefer to work ‘face to face’ and am prepared to travel a reasonable distance to my clients preferred address or for my clients to travel to see me in Newbury. Naturally where the distance is too great, then I work via the telephone, Skype or similar ways. Each session will take approx. 2 hours.
How long will we need to work together?
How long is a piece of string? Under most circumstances, a skill acquirement or basic behaviour change may take between 4 – 6 sessions. However, in some cases, the coaching process may require longer depending on the nature of the goal/s. Some of my clients like to work for a period of time, say 6 months, then take a break of 6 months and then get back together again. As long as there are clear outcomes and that progress is made, that is fine by me.
When is coaching most effective?
- When preparing for a role or career change
- When managing change, personal and organisational, conflict, crisis and stress
- When improving personal performance and effectiveness
- When increasing self esteem or confidence
- When improving relationships inside and outside of the workplace
- When wanting to understand one’s own values and sense of purpose
How will the Organisation benefit?
…. in many ways but here are some:
- From improved performance from the coachee
- From improved team performance
- From a greater sense of fulfilment from the coachee
- From enhanced creativity and innovation from the coachee
- From enhanced motivation from the coachee
- From improved management of the executives staff
- From the retention of key people
