Executive Coaching
Executive Coaching is client-driven – it’s a process of helping clients to build clarity about what they want to achieve and how to go about it.
An executive coach’s role isn’t to say ‘do it like this’ as a sports coach would. An executive coach brings out the client’s own ability, intellect and ideas by asking great questions; listening and drawing out options. Our job is, quite simply, to help clients bring out the best in themselves. As one client said; ‘I’m so happy to see our sessions in my diary – they give me a chance to think.’
It’s ‘just-in-time’ development, where we work on the issues and opportunities that clients are experiencing right now, and take their skill and confidence to a new level.
Some clients like to work on themselves first, and then to engage their team in HR workshops to share their learning and get their whole team re-energised and aligned.
Key elements of our executive coaching for HR leaders
- Self-awareness is key in coaching. We help clients to understand who they are being a leader and how they want to take that forward. We use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator profile so that we can understand and work with preferences, and offer other psychometrics.
- We have researched what drives great HR, and we apply this to HR leadership. While we work with all functions, we understand the particular challenges of HR leadership and how to develop HR maturity.
- Our Profiling System provides a framework for self-evaluation and 360-degree feedback, for the individual leader and/or for their team or function.
- We are business-focussed. We work hard at understanding the organisational context and being able to appreciate the coachee’s ‘world’.
- On the other hand, it’s personal. We’re focused on the client in the room and their opportunities and career.
- We have a great toolkit. We have a wide range of material, techniques, concepts, articles, etc. to bring into our conversation, as appropriate. We also facilitate getting feedback, either using our own 360-degree or phone interviews.
- We understand how to change behaviour. We build up our patterns over time – we help clients to distinguish those which are getting the desired results, and those which aren’t. We support clients in trying out new approaches, and evaluating them.
- We challenge the coachee’s way of thinking and looking at the world so that they can start to see new ideas and approaches that may have been previously hidden.
- We help clients to identify ‘critical incidents’; ie the situations where their actions really matter. This keeps coaching immediately relevant to the business, and the impact of new practices and habits can be quickly measured.
- We bring in elements from our leadership skills programmes as appropriate, eg. presentation and impact; global/multi cultural working; managing critical relationships and conflict; political intelligence
- Our coaches come with business experience and also a high degree of empathy and interpersonal sensitivity. They offer the subtle balance of tough challenge combined with deep support, where required.
The Seven Enablers
Click on the Enablers to find out more
Organisations we’ve worked with
