What is executive coaching?
Providing a uniquely challenging but supportive working partnership, an executive coach benefits both individuals and organisations by improving performance through skill development, improved confidence, and focus.
Acting as a sounding board and starting point for thought-provoking conversations, a coach can help you to better foster a sense of self-awareness, improve strategic thinking, and learn how to focus on positive, lasting change – within yourself and those you work with.
Executive coaches can help you to:
- better understand your goals;
- gain self-awareness;
- achieve development objectives;
- unlock your potential.
Executive coaching is typically work-related, with a particular focus on improving performance and behaviour in the workplace. Designed to help individuals develop quickly, executive coaching is a goal-oriented form of tailored learning for a busy professional.
In this video, executive coach Laura Lilley explains more about what executive coaching is and who may benefit from it.
While some forms of coaching require a more long-term, personal format, executive coaching is a short-term, time-limited process, which is goal-specific and action-oriented. Executive coaching utilises feedback and offers some objectivity. An executive coach is not a consultant or counsellor, so they will typically refrain from giving advice or solving your problems. Instead, they listen and ask relevant questions to help you better understand your goals and solve problems.
What is corporate coaching?
Corporate coaching can be seen as similar to executive coaching. Combining the hands-on elements of executive coaching with organisational consulting, corporate coaching focuses on helping achieve organisational goals while still allowing for individual ambitions.
While both styles of coaching include elements of self-discovery, person-first problem-solving, and interpersonal dynamics, executive coaching focuses on furthering a leader's capacity, while corporate coaching emphasises growth for teams. Through corporate coaching, a team's sense of cohesion, productivity, inclusion, and performance can be improved.
What are the benefits of executive coaching?
There are many benefits to executive coaching, for both you and the organisation you work for. While executive coaching can be expensive, it is said that the improved performance and skills of employees make the investment worth it. Below, we will look at the benefits of executive coaching, both as an individual and as an organisation.
The benefits of executive coaching to you
If you’re seeking executive coaching, it’s likely you are working as a CEO, Director, Senior manager or are a newly promoted high-performing employee looking to progress your career. Executive coaching is designed to help you succeed as a director or senior executive, so there are certain skills you will need to develop to succeed and flourish.
Executive coaching can help you:
- manage your time efficiently to deliver successfully;
- understand stressors and learn how to cope with potential triggers;
- find boundaries and create and maintain a good work/life balance;
- make time to progress and set achievable goals;
- practise your creativity and intellectual freedom;
- improve your adaptability;
- learn to increase your team's cohesiveness;
- empower you to manage your career more strategically.
Executive coaching can also provide you with a safe environment to reflect and refocus on confidential issues or issues that are important to you. They can also act as a sounding board; something that tends to be less regular the more senior you become. Executive coaching can help you consider the decisions you are making and challenge your own view in a non-controversial way.
As well as the above, executive coaching can give you the space you need to talk about what it is you want from your role, and where you want to be in the future. They can support you as you learn these new skills and enter potentially new, intimidating territory, while acting as your mentor until you feel confident enough to continue the path alone.
Benefits of executive coaching for employers
There are so many benefits to organisations investing in executive coaching for their staff. A happy workforce is a high-performing workforce after all. But there are more specific benefits to investing in executive coaching.
- Dedicated time and space to reflect on complex challenges can encourage more confident and informed decision-making.
- Support succession planning by helping high-potential employees prepare for more senior roles.
- Access to an impartial sounding board. Having someone external ask the hard questions can be invaluable in preparing to manage pressure or make difficult decisions.
- To accelerate the personal development of individuals defined as ‘high potential’, or individuals from a minority group identified for affirmative action.
- To underpin the effective implementation of organisational change, by supporting teams and individuals.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) highlights the value of executive coaching in helping senior leaders cut through the noise, providing support during periods of pressure and offering an alternative perspective. In one example, a business spokesperson reflected on the impact of coaching, saying:
One of our senior leaders has had an executive coach for a few years now, and the coach has helped them to cut through the noise, provided additional support when they have been overwhelmed and given them an alternative perspective. I honestly think that without that coaching they would not be on our CEO succession plan now.
What to expect from executive coaching
Entering a new role, whether it be a promotion within your company or an external position, can be daunting. Even if you are experienced in many of the aspects of the job, the new responsibility can be overwhelming, particularly when you reach director or senior executive level. With so much to do, you can lose some of the time you previously had to train and progress your own skills.
An executive coach can provide you with a confidential space to think; a time to talk about your concerns, worries, dreams, and goals, and be listened to. They will help you to mobilise your current resources to solve any problems you face, and know the steps to take to achieve your goals.
Executive coaches are highly supportive of clients, but also want to challenge you. This isn’t a therapy or counselling session; they are there to push you. Of course, too much support can be detrimental, leaving you in a comfortable place, while too much challenge can be stressful. Executive coaches will give you the right balance of support and challenge to help you achieve optimal performance.
What can't an executive coach help you with?
An executive coach isn't a therapist. They aren't there to help with past trauma. Instead, they help you to focus on your future personal and business development.
It's important to remember that an executive coach isn't there to provide solutions (like a consultant) or to share their own experiences (like a mentor). They are there to help you find your own solutions and facilitate your learning journey. An executive coach can help you to discover more about yourself, but they aren't there to give you all the answers. It's about facilitating your journey of self-discovery.
What does a typical executive coaching process look like?
There are many variations of executive coaching, though it will typically involve a series of phases. The process commonly starts with intake, assessment, goal setting and development planning. It then progresses through the development plan, with regular meetings and check-ins with the employee’s manager.
Executive coaching is ideally held face-to-face, as much of it requires non-verbal communication, and it helps build a relationship between the coach and the coachee. However, as time goes on and the world of social media grows ever larger, online coaching is becoming more common.
How many sessions will I need?
Generally, executive coaching will last between 7 and 12 months, though this will depend on those involved. The process typically ends once the development goals are achieved or when the coach or the client has decided they are ready to end the engagement.
How to find an executive coach
So, how do you find an executive coach to help you or your organisation? There are many ways to find an executive coach. Your company may already work with a number of coaches, or you may find a contact through word of mouth. Independent coaches can be found listed in directories, like ours, or are members of a professional body.
When selecting an executive coach, like any, it is important that you trust them to do the job well. Chemistry is important, so interview-style conversations and consultations are a great way to learn more about them as a professional and how they work.
Ask questions and discuss what it is you want to gain from hiring them; executive coaching is often considered an investment, but to make it worthwhile, it’s important you find the right coach for you.
