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Executive Coaching

What is Executive Coaching?

One-to-one executive coaching is an interactive process designed to help individuals develop rapidly.  It is usually work related and focused on improving performance or behaviour, or reshaping attitude.  It is usually a goal-oriented process, personally tailored to provide a learning context for the busy executive.

The essential features of coaching are that it is short-term, time limited, goal-specific, action-oriented and personally tailored.  It often uses a feedback process and some additional tools, it also provides objectivity.

Why do it?

Why sponsor an individual for coaching, or choose to engage in it oneself?  There are a variety of motives, and within coaching assignments these are often combined:

• Transition – to support the induction or appointment of a senior person into a more senior or different role
• Development – to accelerate the personal development of an individual.  Often this is a senior person who needs to develop soft skills or more effective political working; or a high potential person in preparation for succession, or a minority group individual identified for affirmative action
• Organizational Change – to underpin the effective implementation of organizational change through supporting teams and individuals
• Critical Friend – to provide a sounding board and wise counsellor for senior individuals
• Career Progression – to support senior individuals as they plan their future
• Personal Effectiveness – to support senior individuals through developing their internal and external impact and visibility, and to enhance their personal effectiveness
• Recognition – to provide on-going learning for senior people who are critical to the future of the business

What happens?

There are six phases to the coaching process:

• Contracting and building rapport with the individual
• Issue and objective identification and agreement
• Developing a shared analysis and understanding
• Planning the development process
• Development dialogue, action taking, practice and reflection
• Withdrawal and closure to the relationship

Typically there are between six and twelve sessions to the coaching agreement, each lasts about two hours and is followed-up by a confidential summary exchanged between the coach and coachee.  The coachee may communicate directly with the coach between sessions by telephone or email, this is occasionally supported with additional meetings (for example the coach may observe a team meeting led by the coachee, or may attend a formal presentation).

Frequently, feedback gathering takes place during the process using a specially developed 360˚ or 540˚ feedback approach.  Sometimes psychometric or other instruments are used to explore other factors and issues; occasionally a personal effectiveness tutor is used during a session to support development of personal impact or image development.

Usually the coach will focus on one or a combination of the coaching paths: work requirements, personal effectiveness, and career development.

Frequently Asked Questions

One-to-One Coaching

What is one-to-one executive mentoring or coaching?

A process where an individual is helped to bring about sustained change – in their thinking and behaviour. The Edge focus is as much on helping individuals to meet their business need as it is on applying principles and techniques. A typical executive coaching program consists of 6 – 12 sessions, usually held at monthly intervals, each followed by a summary letter detailing understandings reached and actions agreed. There is also the opportunity for a direct telephone service between sessions. We often recommend the collection of 360º or 540º feedback during an individual’s coaching program.  Sometimes alternative tools are used within the process; these may include psychometrics, awareness development instruments (e.g.: Personal Work Drivers ©), or a session with a personal impact tutor.

Does it make a difference?

Yes.  This can be demonstrated by personal testimony, but also through quantitative and qualitative analysis shown in a number of academic research papers.  Edge will also undertake a Cost Benefit Analysis to demonstrate the return on investment if a client wishes this to be undertaken.

Will the process be confidential?

Where the coachee is also the sponsor the answer is invariably ‘yes’.  On other occasions the sponsor is the coachee’s manager or a member of the Organizational Development team.  On these occasions a clear agreement is made between all parties concerning any information that goes back to the business.  This is usually limited to performance against established business objectives.  Any communication of such information is open, so that the coachee knows and sees the transaction.  In some cases the purpose of the coaching is highly personal (related to trauma or other personal matters) and in these cases the content of sessions and outputs is wholly confidential.  The coachee, however, is at complete liberty to use the session outputs in any manner s/he wishes, and to share them in entirety or part with appropriate colleagues.

How can we line up successors for our Top Team?

Succession planning is crucial for any business. Although there may be no plans for top executives to leave in the immediate future, it is essential to have plans in place to cover the unexpected – or the eventuality that people do leave and move on. Having a sense of your resource potential and preparing people for the future is vital. Coaching high potential people for this eventuality provides strength and security.  However, there’s also the business of identifying the high potential group.  Many organisations do this through a specially developed 360º feedback process.  Some organisations link this process to a Development Centre which also gives potential successors a chance to see if they’d like to be promoted – and collect meaningful feedback on their style and approach. A Development Centre which combines these elements will give you objective and reliable data. The Development Centre could be a valuable part of your succession planning process.

What if I am unclear about where I want to be in 3 or so years in terms of career development?

Lack of clarity concerning future career development is common; sometimes people have made some broad decisions concerning potential future alternative paths.  This is not an issue.  The coach will work with you to clarify thinking and sort out what is really important for the next steps.  This will help you visualize, set goals and come up with a step by step action plan to get you where you want to be. The areas covered also include the area of work/life balance as well as the key personal development challenges within work.

What background and experience do Organizatioanl Edge consultants have?

Edge consultants are from a variety of backgrounds, with a mix of both psychology and business qualifications. Most consultants have worked within industry and bring with them a great deal of experience. We do not specialize in any one industry and pride ourselves on working with a wide spectrum of clients. Each of our consultants are focussed on using the best solution to enable the individual client get the desired result, as opposed to being committed to using one particular model. There are many solutions, but it is clarifying the problem and then working on the appropriate solution that allows results to be achieved.

Team Coaching

What is team coaching?

‘Team Coaching’ is the process of coaching a group of senior people unified by agreed objectives.  Typically, this will be an Executive Team, major project team or strategic think tank. There are a number of reasons why an external coach at an internal meeting is beneficial. Ultimately it can help stretch and challenge individuals thinking, whilst allowing them to challenge themselves and adopt a fresh approach. It is easy to get caught up in the side issues or details, without channelling the thinking on to the imperatives.  The coach will help keep the important issues on the boil, by managing the discussion and providing synthesis leading towards clear action plans, shaping behaviours and attitude. During the process we ensure outputs are agreed and are measurable, we also encourage follow up.

Why use externals when we have internals who can do the job?

This is a question that is raised often by large corporate bodies. The foremost reason why externals are of value is that they are fresh and have no awareness of the organizational politics – they are therefore more likely to challenge established ways of thinking and doing things, whilst creating a safe environment for frank exchange. The knowledge that the coach is neutral, unbiased and impartial - with no axe to grind - encourages more open and honest debate.  Edge coaches also bring best practice knowledge, from other sectors and organisations, and a greater awareness of potential pitfalls and how they are avoided.