Executive coaching is a one on one, short, medium or a long term program, delivered by a qualified executive coach who is invested in the business for long term. It is the process of equipping people with the desired tools, knowledge, and appropriate opportunities they need, to personally develop themselves and to be productive enough for the company. Sincere coaching can improve the employee and organizational relationship and promote efficiency in bringing a change.
Executive coaching can improve the work force of a company, improve the morale of the employee, and help them achieve various organizational goals. Executive coaching involves building a relationship with motivation, trust and reliability. An executive coach is a qualified professional that works with other executives and often high potential employees to help them obtain self-awareness, clarify their goals, achieve their development objectives, reveal their potential and act as a sounding board for the organization.
The guidance of a strong coach leads to the development of client relationship, personal growth as well as organizational accomplishments. A true coach will not only bring the right leadership skills and knowledge, but will also build your confidence and ensure you complete your goals and reach excellence.
There are two main reasons that makes this process of executive coaching unique from other processes –
- First, this engagement is a partnership between the executive being coached and the client organization.
- Second, the individual goals of the executive coaching process must always be in sync with the strategic goals of the organization.
Steps of a one on one executive coaching program
Discovery Phase
After determining the executive, you want to invest in, the next step is to retain coaches who have deep understanding of organizational cultures through a mix of both personal experience and knowledge. Their respective backgrounds and experiences should always align with the individual being coached. It is important for the Executive Coach to understand the individual’s capabilities and strengths to deliver a work plan that focuses on improving their strengths and working on their weaknesses.
The coach, participant, and most importantly, the client organization must agree upon the delivered development plan. The development plan should contain metrics to measure the success and for revisiting throughout the process to ensure those metrics are being met. Once the development plan is agreed upon, a contract is signed following which the coaching sessions are begun.
Coaching Sessions
With the established outcomes determined in the development plan, coaches are prepared to meet with the participants for their one on one sessions at regular intervals. A good coach will always keep the lines of communication open between sessions to address the questions or concerns that may arise during the process.
Each situation is unique, and each program should be carried out in a way which addresses the needs of both the client and the participant. One unique thing about any executive coaching program is its high ethical guidelines surrounding communication and confidentiality. A participant must be confident about the confidentiality of what he/she says in the sessions. Some information related to the outcome may be disclosed to the client company, but all parties must agree with what is to be shared, including all tests and assessment results beforehand.
Analysis of the result
If the person being coached has been sincere throughout the process, coaches report improvement almost every time. We can always better the results of the process by repeating it again and again for about a year or so. Coaches must always appreciate the follow-ups. It is important to know that the goal of this process is not to create a dependency relationship between the client and the coach but to extract efficiency from them separately.
