I provide executive coaching to leaders who want to improve. Research supports individual coaching as the most successful method for developing high performing leaders.
I typically meet with a leader for two hours in person every other week. The client chooses behaviorally defined goals that will help them grow professionally and help the company, law firm, or accounting firm meet their strategic goals.
Are you working with a coach and developing your talent as a leader?
How do you convince leaders to change? How can you optimize your talents and potential? What best practices in executive coaching programs produce lasting results that drive business performance? What are the ground rules when beginning an executive coaching engagement?
Executive coaching offers a great opportunity to harness leadership talent and resources, both of which can lead an organization to sustainable success.
Establishing ground rules
At the beginning, coaches should clarify the ground rules, drawing attention to the following key areas:
1. Confidentiality, expectations and commitment: The trainer must be clear about what will be shared with the leader’s boss and what will be kept confidential. Aligning the goals of coaching with the main objectives of the organization is crucial, since coaching is not simply an exercise in self-improvement.
2. Hierarchical relationships: There must be clarity between the three key participants: the organizational contact (manager or human resources representative), the trainer and the leader who receives the training.
3. Information Gathering Methods – Both the coach and the leader receiving the coaching will communicate with key stakeholders, team members, direct reports, and other people involved.
4. Making judgments, setting goals, and monitoring progress: The coach helps the leader and key stakeholders to maintain objectivity. Trainers should focus on one or two behaviors, without judging, and facilitate honest sharing about progress.
5. How, why and when the coaching will end: Coaching parameters should be established at the beginning of the engagement, with milestones to assess progress and an end date (usually 12-18 months).
It is essential to clarify from the beginning who the client is. When the coach and leader understand that the company is the real customer, the ground rules are easier to accept. This is a vital step in gaining and maintaining trust. Once the ground rules have been established, they cannot be twisted along the way. The coaching relationship requires discipline and limits for progress to occur.
Working with an experienced executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments like the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you become a more collaborative and enlightened leader. He can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to happily commit to the company’s strategy and vision.