Recently, I met Bert, the manager of about twenty professionals in a consultancy firm. Bert has been leading this team for over a year now, and he is facing some challenges.
Where things were running smoothly at his previous company, the dynamics seem different here, and his team is not performing well. He struggles with the question of how to get a grip on this team. His persistence is getting in the way, and he knows that it causes irritation in his environment.
His general manager suggested working with an executive coach. He came to see me, and after a while, I asked him, “What is your question?” He couldn’t formulate the question. In fact, he hadn’t really thought about it himself. After a thorough analysis, I formulated the problem and the coaching question, and we could start his process together.
What is an executive coach, and how can you prepare for a first meeting with questions you can ask yourself?
What is the definition of an executive coach?
An executive coach guides and supports the development process of managers, directors, executives, and entrepreneurs. Executive coaching primarily focuses on strengthening personal and professional leadership. The coach can be a sounding board but can also perform targeted interventions to support behavior change. Executive coaching focuses on deeper personality layers on the one hand and strategic goals on the other.
Executive coach questions
What questions are asked in executive coaching? It is helpful to prepare for some questions you can ask yourself. If you want to achieve your Golden Leadership, it helps to be aware of what that gold means to you. It is not self-evident that everyone has that clear, as it can be difficult to ask yourself the right executive coach questions. And of course, it is up to the executive coach to support you in this, to help you clarify the questions, clarify your problem, and set clear goals.
Below are 10 executive coach questions you can ask yourself to prepare for an executive coaching interview:
- What do you want to develop that is not or insufficiently succeeding now?
- Why do you want to develop your leadership skills?
- What is holding you back in your leadership? Are there limiting beliefs? Limiting emotions?
- What do you think are your strongest qualities? As a person? As a leader?
- What have you done so far to solve your problem? What resources have you used? Think of previous coaching, training, mentoring within the company, books you have read.
- What is the effect after your executive coaching process? What do you see then? What do you say to yourself? What do others say to you? What do others notice?
- What are you willing to invest in your process? Think of time, energy, keeping agreements.
- Are you truly willing to change?
- Who within your organization can help you support your coaching process?
- What techniques and methods does your executive coach use? Think of (objective) behavior and motivation analyses, intervention methods, or NLP.
Have you mapped out your executive coaching process with coaching questions for yourself and during the introduction? Then it now comes down to ‘the click’. This is more a feeling. The feeling that you experience trust between you and your executive coach. It is important that you trust your executive coach as a professional and as a person.
Want to read more? Then read my book “My best team ever! In 7 steps to Golden Leadership”.
