"Seeing within changes one's outer vision." - Joseph Chilton Pearce
"Rule your mind or it will rule you."- Horace
"If you want things to be different, perhaps the answer is to become different yourself." - Norman Vincent Peale
"Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power." - Lao Tzu
"What we think, we become." - Buddha
"There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self." - Aldous Huxley
Executive Coaching
Executive coaching is a strong enabler in enhancing leadership performance and is a powerful tool to put at the disposal of a manager or director. Executive coaching is not an end in itself, but a mechanism to further develop the capacity of a leader to lead. Although not prescriptive, there are often themes which emerge dependent upon the seniority of the leader.
What is Executive Coaching?
A coach with organisational experience and in-depth knowledge of the psychology of individual, group and organisational behaviour can provide valuable insights to help leaders navigate through personal and organisational developmental issues.
Executive coaching works by increasing self awareness of the beliefs and worldview we hold and our unconscious patterns of behaviours developed and reinforced over many years. These beliefs inform our self- esteem, how we see the world, influence the decisions we make and the attitudes we have to others. At more senior levels some beliefs can unfortunately impinge on an executive's ability to lead effectively.
Once a manager or leader has enhanced their self-awareness through coaching, they have a greater understanding of their intrinsic needs and those of others, so they can engage their people and better align them with the needs of their organisation.
CEO and Chair Coaching
People change, not organisations. Working with CEOs, Directors and senior managers often means helping them to develop the capacity to work through ambiguous and complex topics including strategic planning, organisational structures, organisational culture as well change management.
It is said that "honesty flees authority", so it's hard for leaders at this level to get critical feedback on their performance. Also certain patterns of behaviour, which are insignificant at lower management levels, can become very limiting at this level of seniority.
The impact of executive coaching at senior players can be felt not just by the individual being coached, but throughout a business as improved leadership at the top will permeate and positively impact the whole organisation.
Executive Coaching - Developing Directors
As an individual moves up an organisation towards a position of senior management or directorship, issues that weren't recognised in previous roles now start to become more significant and therefore need to be addressed.
Individuals need to challenge their 'status quo' to allow them to abandon old patterns of behaviour and to adopt new skills and perspectives, often around the theme of becoming more effective by letting go of the need for efficiency.
Individuals need to become more aware of their 'shadow' side, so they are less likely to be highjacked by it and to start to let go of their previous 'expertise' to work more collaboratively with others. There is also the need to develop their credibility and 'presence', given their need to more widely influence their organisation.
Emerging New Leaders
It makes sound business sense to develop potential managers so that they deliver outstanding business results in their current positions while being groomed as the leaders of tomorrow. This can be done through executive coaching or through a rolling programme of leadership development, mentoring and executive coaching for a group of potential leaders.
Work at this level often concentrates on developing an individual's level of emotional intelligence as well as role-specific skills and requires individuals to start to differentiate between leadership and management. The content for leadership development at this level is determined by the level an individual is operating at and will be tailored to suit organisational and business needs.