Many businesses and large companies have a business coaching policy particularly in the area of executive coaching. The role of the executive requires tough decision making and even though they may appear to be confident in those decisions, they don’t have the benefit of objectivity.
Going through executive training helps executives build upon their leadership skills, and deepen their effectiveness in their role. Executive coaching is usually offered on a one to one basis, however group executive training sessions and monthly executive coaching sessions are also considered valuable. These will assist the executive or anyone in a leadership position to understand what their role is, how to succeed in this role and what steps they need to take to maintain their success.
Executive coaches help the executive determine their individual needs, goals and processes to achieve them. There are different techniques in executive coaching and therefore not all coaching professionals train in the same way. Executive training itself is about challenging the executive with new ideas, building their confidence in managing unpredictable situations and learning new ideas and actions that will help them overcome their many challenges.
When researching for an executive coach, there are a few pointers to look out for in the actual coaching program. If you are opting for a one to one executive coaching session make sure it is a reflective practice. By doing so it will enable you to determine more clearly the areas of improvement and what changes are required. In addition, when choosing your executive coach, make sure you go through a thorough check of credentials, past performance and testimonials of trustworthy people. It is important that you feel comfortable about the quality of guidance you will receive.
Don’t leave the process and direction of the coaching solely in the executive coach’s hands. Make sure that the training is directed towards taking action, rather than it being a therapy session. You will need to gain the knowledge and understand why each action is taken. You will also need to make sure that it is goal focussed and targeted at developing your areas of limitation. There may be one specific area or several areas that requires attention therefore it will be important to prioritise your coaching outcomes upfront. Your executive coach will help you to build upon and focus on improving performances in each coaching area.
Executive coaching has a number of different aspects associated with it; business coaching, executive team training and life coaching. The question you will need to ask yourself is which type of coaching will provide the best possible results. Always make sure that you are clear on the coaching objective upfront and match those outcomes to the coach that has experience knowledge and understanding in your area of expertise. An executive training program is often challenging so it may require you to move beyond your comfort areas into unchartered territories. However the growing pains will be worth it in the long term.
Adapted from an article by Anna Stenning