Individual Leadership Development:

Why Coaching?

Constantly changing business conditions have elevated and altered the typical standards for success. Strategies and tactics that leaders have used in the past are becoming obsolete, but companies continue to value their human capital and need to foster change and growth in order to stay competitive. That means all leaders must develop new skills, build upon their strengths and realize their full potential. How can your company develop leadership skills that are critical for the future success of your organization?

A Primary Tool is Executive Coaching!

Executive Coaching is designed to accelerate the growth of high potential executives and to improve the effectiveness of managers whose performance has faltered. This powerful program provides a mirror to assist executives in clearly examining their values, skills, mission and relationships. Once the analysis and diagnosis are completed, a target plan is developed that focuses on creating and maintaining top performers and putting derailed employees on the right track.

Who Can Benefit?

For Example:

... A talented executive falters on the job, usually because of how he or she is going about doing their jobs as opposed to not knowing what they are doing. (Example: the technically brilliant Director of Engineering who alienates people because of his perfectionist, dictatorial, control-oriented approach to working with other professionals.)

... A high potential manager who has been promoted up the organization but does not intuitively grasp how he or she needs to do his or her job differently. (Example: The highly competent, focused and aggressive manager who is promoted to an officer level position and is unaware of the need to broaden his/her perspective by taking a company-wide officer's view of what is going on, and the need to develop, rather than compete, with those around and below him/her in the organization.)

... An executive or manager with a successful history within the company who is not able to make changes in style necessary to keep up with the changes dictated by new corporate structures, re-engineering or evolving cultures and norms.  (Example: An executive who has achieved considerable success with command/control and micro-management styles and is not sure how to deal with empowerment; consequently feels overwhelmed by an increased span of control.)

Examples of Cases for Development

Executives and managers experiencing the specific behavioral issues listed below are excellent candidates for coaching.  Do you recognize these behavioral issues?

Why Coaching Works

So that executives are able, motivated and willing to change their behavior, coaches provide:

  1. A setting in which they can step back and look at themselves and the feedback in an open direct manner. They must feel safe in making themselves vulnerable and not worry about experiencing negative consequences should they lower their guard to take the risks necessary for learning.
  2. An objective view to the feedback and development of a plan of action that is constructive and responsive to the feedback.
  3. An opportunity to put the action plan into practice and receive feedback concerning the new "experimental" behavior with practice spread over a significant period of time so that the executive or manager gains confidence with the new behavior and begins to integrate it into his or her managerial repertoire.

Without Coaching, The Usual Strategies Have Been Less Than Satisfactory

Tools for Coaching

The Strategic Advantages Guarantee: It Will Always Work!

In short, intervention helps - doing nothing gets you what you already have, puts you at risk, or worse.

Strategic Advantages Helps You Measure Your Investment

Executive coaching, as any other developmental process, requires a significant investment of intellectual, professional and emotional energy, time and financial resources. Whether advising and developing high performing senior executives or younger high-potentials, or stabilizing and improving performance for under-performing or derailed individuals, coaching suggests a risk. Decision makers may question the relative worth of investing in seemingly uncertain outcomes. Why go down this path when we just "hope" it will work? Two answers are clear!

Answer #1

We guarantee that it will always work! The previous section outlines five high impact benefits that will occur, regardless of anyone's judgment of expected outcomes. If the only outcome were better focused data for managerial decision making, it would be a winner. Review this list - you are likely to agree.

Answer #2

It will save the organization money in the long run! Numerous studies from the Saratoga Institute and other research labs have clearly established often overlooked or misunderstood costs or turnover and low productivity. Turnover and under-producing are huge wasted costs for any company. Briefly, the Saratoga Institute's cost of turn-over metrics says:

With at least two-thirds of coaching engagements resulting in one of the first two outcomes, the company clearly saves money. Turnover (for any reason) is averted and productivity for the candidate and those around him or her rises. The organization saves money at the rate of hundreds of thousands while investing a small fraction of savings into dramatic benefits over time.

Insert your own figures. Look at turnover, loss in productivity, disruption around a potential candidate, etc. Again, coaching interventions help by saving you money - doing nothing gets you what you have, puts you at risk, or costs a lot more than your coaching investment. The financial return is clear and compelling.