A new level of personal and profesional success
There's a new breed of Coach out there these days. Not an athletic coach, but a success-partner and collaborator who has been professionally trained to take businesses, organizations and corporations—and the people in them—to the next level of personal and professional success.
They're called Executive Coaches and they are becoming a “must have” in the business world.
The statistics bear this out:
♦ A recent study of Executive Coaching in a Fortune 500 firm by MetrixGlobal reported a 529% return on investment and significant intangible benefits to the business.
♦ An internal report of the Personnel Management Association showed that when training is combined with coaching, individuals increase their productivity by an average of 86% compared to 22% with training alone.
♦ A survey by Manchester Inc. of 100 executives found that coaching provided an average return on investment of almost six times the cost of the coaching.
♦ A Hay Group study of Fortune 500 companies found that 21 to 40% utilize Executive Coaching; Coaching was used as standard leadership development for elite executives and talented up-and-comers.
Executive Coaches are not about giving answers; they're about asking tough questions. They make you think. They pull out of you (whether you're an executive, a team within an organization, a manager, an entrepreneur) the necessary understandings to help you bridge that gap between where you are and where you want to be. They're about supporting individuals and/or the organization not only to find a direction, but to take action. And the entire process is totally confidential; clients are asked to meet periodically in joint meetings with their bosses and
Coaches to review their coaching plans and to receive feedback on progress.
Coaching provides the more collaborative model of communication and motivation that the current business environment demands. It's all about developing the highest potential in people (and within the organization) as well as creating a productive environment for such development to occur. It provides the technology of human interaction and development; the “people” part of business. It's about who you are as well as about what you do.
Unlike counseling or psychotherapy, an Executive Coach does not deal with emotional problems or healing past issues. Coaching is for high functioning people who are ready to move into action to create the professional and personal successes they envision.
Executive Coaches work on site, by telephone or, most typically, by combining both; consequently, Coaches have no geographic boundaries. They might coach owners, CEOs, executives and other leaders as well as providing other services including professional assessment, team development, leadership programs, coaching skills training, succession planning and sales/marketing strategies.
Coaching an executive typically begins with assessments that might include analysis of managerial behavior, emotional intelligence, communication style, leadership competency and/or attitudes and values. A 360 degree feedback analysis (a powerful process in which a person receives feedback from his/her boss, peers and direct reports) is common. The coach might “shadow” the individual for a day, watching him or her interact, lead meetings or give a presentation. After the assessment process is complete, the client develops a Coaching Plan that includes specific action items and accountabilities and typically works with the Coach six months to a year to implement the desired outcomes.