Executive and Business Coaching
For personal and Professional Development
More and more organizations are harnessing the expertise of a Business or Executive coach. The coach is almost always an agent of change. The coach will never tell someone what to do, but they will ask the tough questions. The client receives assistance to determine the areas in which change may be desired and even necessary, and the coach supports a coarse of action to achieve the desired change(s). The specific reasons for engaging a coach are numerous:
When a change in behaviour is desired
Often, an owner, president or CEO will identify certain behavioral tendencies in key management personnel or management prospects. The coach works with the candidate(s) to work on changing specific behaviours that may be standing in the way of productive performance or career advancement.
Many owners and corporate executives realize they must change the way they deal with their people. The coach helps identify the necessary behavioral change and works to help the client establish goals and maintain a plan of action.
Achieving Peak Performance
There are times when every person gets into a "rut" and requires assistance to "move forward".
Top performers often have tremendous desire to maintain a high level of performance. The coach works with them to establish a strategy to keep them challenged and performing
Support for emerging top performers
Support for those with potential to assist in the development of appropriate goals, good work habits and maintain an upwardly mobile track. A coach can help the employee with less experience navigate their way through the corporate maze, encouraging the development of skills necessary for the client to grow within the organization.
Fast Tracking a Key Employee
A coach can enable an employee to advance faster in his career path through careful direction and support. In these days of shortage of those with skills and experience, a coach can often enable less experienced people to quickly become a valuable asset at a higher corporate level.
The promotion of a new manager
All businesses struggle with the best way to promote a production employee or sales employee into a management position in a way that will set them up to be successful. Too often these employees are "thrown to the wolves" with little or no support. A coach works with the unskilled new manager and quietly supports the development of necessary management and communication skills. There are many variables in the promotion of new management people which a coach can help with.
Poor performance
It can be costly for a business to keep a poor performer on staff. Many times, there are unknown circumstances that directly influence the performance of one who is struggling. The coach works to, confidentially, identify the cause of the problem, help the client work to overcome the obstacles in his/her way and support a strategy for improvement.
It can be costly for a business to terminate the employment of a poor performer. The investment in a coach to help the employee improve performance and support changes in the employee’s behaviour can be far less than a dismissal and all the associated costs like severance, recruiting and retraining a replacement.
Sounding board
Many business leaders experience the "it’s lonely at the top" syndrome. A coach provides an excellent confident to whom a leader can speak with openly and share new ideas and strategies. Often, just the process of listening to yourself can provide amazing clarification. When meeting on a regular basis, the coach becomes a trusted advisor.
Typically, when any person works with a coach, the changes are far more significant than initially anticipated. So many behaviours affect other skills and behaviours. Most often the person with the coach experiences a fulfilling and satisfying relationship.
Coaching Packages
Coaching is most effective in three month packages. Any coaching relationship will normally see an initial increase in energy and enthusiasm, then experience a let-down after the first six to eight weeks. The involvement of the coach is critical during these adjustment periods down to keep the client moving forward, and not allowing him/her to drift off and be unsuccessful.
