“Congratulations, you are now a manager,” a promotion is a great step forward for most of us. However, it is not always a very comfortable step. Especially if you are promoted within your own organization. You leave the level of your direct colleagues and are now their manager.
Compare it to sports: you were an excellent player and now you have been appointed as their coach. What often happens is that a player is promoted because he played so well. Not because he is such a good leader.
Suddenly, very different skills are expected of you. And you do not have them readily available at the moment you are promoted. An executive coach then helps you bridge the gap between your current position and your future position.
What’s in a name? Executive coaching? Business coaching? Often the terms are used interchangeably. In this article, I will explain the meaning of executive coaching and the roadmap you can expect in an executive coaching trajectory.
What Exactly is Executive Coaching?
According to Wikipedia, Executive coaching is ‘focused on the development of leadership; strategic thinking of, for example, top managers is a priority.’
According to executive coach and author Mary Beth O’Neill, the essence of Executive coaching is ‘helping leaders work through their dilemmas so they can transform their learning directly into results for the organization.’
What is the Definition of an Executive Coach?
An executive coach guides and supports the development process of top managers, directors, executives, and entrepreneurs. Executive coaching primarily focuses on strengthening personal and professional leadership.
An executive coach can be a sounding board, but can also perform targeted interventions to support behavioral change. Executive coaching focuses on deeper personality layers on the one hand and strategic goals on the other.
Depending on the questions, executive coaching can be combined with other forms of coaching. An example is business coaching focused on the development of entrepreneurship, this form is derived from executive coaching.
Executive Coaching Principles
There are several important principles in executive coaching trajectories:
- there is mutual trust between coach and coachee
- the coaching relationship is a partnership in growth, in development, not a ‘makeover’
- all topics of the coachee are discussed in a safe environment
Executive Coaching Process
Executive coaching largely consists of a process with four phases.
First: Introduction & Contract Phase
In this first phase, the coach has an extensive conversation with the person who needs/wants to be coached, also called the ‘coachee’. After this conversation, there should be clarity about:
- Level of trust in the upcoming trajectory, also known as “the click”
- Measurable goals
- Desirable outcomes
- Role and desired contribution of the environment (manager, board, HR)
Second: Planning Phase
To really achieve change, there are several specific steps that need to be taken. During a conversation, a fixed order does not necessarily have to be followed. In this phase, the coach and coachee go from broad to specific, thus to specific. Examples of specific steps include:
- Clarifying one’s own patterns in a particular situation.
- Moving from generalities to a specific approach per topic.
- Preparing the coachee for moments when stepping out of the comfort zone might be necessary to explore or apply something new. In other words: clarifying that the coachee really wants to go for gold and is willing to take steps.
Third: Action Phase
This concerns the actual trajectory. Here, work is done together on changes that contribute to the set developments. This includes learning new behavioral strategies, new communication strategies, strengthening certain relationships, learning new skills, eliminating limiting beliefs and emotions.
Often, an assessment of behavior, motives, and EQ (emotional intelligence) can provide a lot of insight quickly and increase awareness of one’s own functioning at the start. Live coaching on the job can also be planned during the action phase if desired. This means that the coach is present at a meeting and sees how the coachee participates.
Fourth: Performance – Evaluation Phase
In this phase, the evaluation takes place and progress and improvements are reviewed. It is always advisable to insert a formal evaluation moment and it is also advisable to plan this intermittently. Evaluations are about the effort and results achieved by the coachee and the coach is also evaluated here.
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