PITPACK – Strengthen your team in 7 steps

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:

1. What do you want to develop that is not or insufficiently succeeding now?
2. Why do you want to develop your leadership skills?
3. What is holding you back in your leadership? Are there limiting beliefs? Limiting emotions?
4. What do you think are your strongest qualities? As a person? As a leader?
5. 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.
6. 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?
7. What are you willing to invest in your process? Think of time, energy, keeping agreements.
8. Are you truly willing to change?
9. Who within your organization can help you support your coaching process?
10. 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”.

My book was launched a few years ago during a festive book presentation ‘My best team ever! In 7 steps to Golden Leadership’! The book describes 7 topics that not only strengthen the team but also individual leadership, with many customer examples and metaphors from the sports world. Joop Alberda received the first copy. That was so cool.

Joop Alberda

Joop was named the best volleyball coach in the world. He knows what it takes to bring a team to Gold. He won gold at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. The Dutch public later chose this moment as the sports moment of the twentieth century. Additionally, he was the technical director of the NOC*NSF and guided multiple federations to their gold.

In 7 Steps to Golden Leadership – PITPACK

What are the 7 steps to Golden Leadership? I will give you a sneak peek.

1. Phases

   Where do you stand with your team? Measuring is knowing. I describe three ways to look at your team, two of which are also measurable. One of these is mapping your team based on behavior styles.

2. Involvement

   Albert Heijn once said, “If you want your employees to be involved, be involved with your employees!” Obviously, this is a two-way street. Knowing your employees, understanding their reality, showing understanding, and taking time for connection are some factors that lead to increased involvement.

3. Trust

   Trust gives wings within teams. It is important that employees feel safe in their work environment. This is also called ‘Secure Based Leadership’. When people feel safe, they show more initiative, innovate faster, and achieve results more quickly. This chapter includes a ‘SAFE checklist’:
   Safe – integrity, openness, understanding differences, self-confidence.
   Able – is your knowledge up to date? Do you keep developing?
   Familiar – easy to get along with. To what extent do you and your team members take responsibility for their relationships? And how carefully do you communicate?
   Energy – high energy levels contribute to better trust.

4. Processes

   Are the basic processes in order? The following basic processes are discussed: task description and division, Code of Honor, meeting structure, decision-making, core values, and core value behavior, meeting essentials.

5. Accountability

   “When your teammate looks you in the eye and holds you accountable, that’s the greatest kind of leadership there is,” Doug Collins, Philadelphia 76’ers Coach. Accountability is a two-way street. Are you accountable? Are your team members accountable? This chapter discusses the importance of scenario thinking with the team, allowing mistakes to be corrected more quickly.

6. Communication

   It will not surprise you that proper communication is the means to shape the previous steps. This chapter pays a lot of attention to that. How do you create trust by better aligning your communication? Are you truly able to treat others the way they want to be treated? And do you know how to develop an atmosphere of trust and respect?

7. Key

   Perhaps this is one of the greatest challenges of our time: how do you keep yourself fit as a leader? How do you keep your energy high? Here I discuss the importance of a ‘peak performance mindset’ as a leader, where sleep and nutrition also play a role.

Encore – Self-managing teams

For many, a ‘hot item’. Self-managing teams are not necessarily the highest level of leadership. The opposite is true: if you choose a self-managing organization, you need golden leadership. You will read more about the principles of self-managing teams, the pitfalls, and a step-by-step plan.

Want to know more about the PITPACK Method? Order the book via Managementboek.nl or Bol.com. Available in print, as an e-book, or as an audiobook. Or send me a message if you want the book signed by me!