Executive and Management Coaching

The How and Why of Executive and Management Coaching

Coaching in the recent past was once viewed by many as a tool to help correct underperformance.  Today coaching ranges from working with under producers to supporting top producers.

Many companies use coaching to further develop the skills of individuals who have been identified as future organizational leaders.

There are two important reasons that many organizations are implementing coaching for their executives and managers.  In most workplaces there is a demand for immediate results and coaching develops leaders in the context of their current jobs without removing them from their day-to-day responsibilities.  A second significant reason is that as individuals advance in their organizational structures, development feedback becomes critical.  However, in the absence of a coaching initiative in the organization, feedback occurs less frequently and is generally unreliable.

In order for coaching to be successful the following elements must be in place:

• The organization and the executive/manager must be committed to the process.
• There must be a clearly defined objective and a fully developed strategy to reach that objective.
• The individual must truly be open to feedback.
• There must be a willingness to create positive change.

There is also the question of when to implement a coaching program.  Here are some relevant timing issues:

• When individual executives/managers feel that a change in behavior either for themselves or their team will make a significant difference
• When it is important to develop new ways to tackle old problems
• When a coaching program is built into a 360˚ feedback process

Executive and Management Coaching

Executive and management coaching is a collaborative, individualized relationship between an executive/manager and a coach, the aims of which are to bring about sustained behavioral change and to transform the quality of the executive’s working and personal life.  Although the coaching always focuses on the individual’s working life, coaching sessions frequently center on interpersonal development, personal change and transformation.

Executive/management coaches work with individuals or teams.  Some areas of coaching include: leadership development; interpersonal and communication skills; time management; staff development and conflict management; identifying gaps and obstacles to efficiency; career coaching to enhance personal satisfaction and career opportunities; specific skills coaching; developing ‘superstars’; and executive strategic planning as well as problem solving.  Executive and management coaching can also focus on building a top performing team, working with individuals to become more effective team players and coaching executives/managers to be coaches.

There are various styles of executive and management coaching, depending on the aims of the coaching sessions, the goals of the executive and the types of interventions employed.

Coaching Process

Most coaching contracts run from three months to a year.  The sessions can be weekly or bi-weekly, and may be conducted in person, via telephone, e-mail or by a combination of all three.

For more information on this or other programs the Wellness Group has to offer please click here.