How can job crafting improve executive career development coaching?

Nobody is perfect. You can't develop every capabilities. Rather, you need to develop and adapt your skills to meet your job requirements. Understanding job requirements and personal capabilities are two sides of the same coin for executive coaching. However, executive coaching often focuses too much on personal capabilities. It's like boiling the ocean if you don't pay attention to what is expected of you in your job. This is especially true for executive positions, where job descriptions are often not well-defined. An executive coach needs to ensure that job requirements are clear and relevant for the coachee before addressing the coachee's personal capability challenges.

As an experienced freelance management consultant with many years experience I believe the three key qualities to succeed in Job Crafting / Self Improvement are as follows:- 1. Determination 2. Determination 3. Determination It's for this reason that the most people are content to stay where they are, which is quite normal and totally acceptable. If, however, you are currently employed and feel you have what it takes to continuously advance your career, I have a free job-crafting analysis template to test yourself. If you are truly determined then you should be able to fully (and honestly) complete it without assistance from anyone. Its purpose is for you to develop your own self-improvement plan. Good luck & best wishes.

I have a slightly different take on where to begin: yes, an inventory is a good place to start AND, I advise taking stock of what you are good at (so that you can figure out how to do more of THAT!) A good coach can not only help you figure out your strengths, but also compare to what extent your current situation gives you an opportunity to leverage them.

Every job exists in a context. The job holder interacts with various groups of people in performing the job; and job holder adds value to each of those groups and has deliverables. And each of them have expectations from job holder. And each job also has enormous opportunities for creativity and customer experience. These expectations change from time to time. The first step is to thoroughly understand the job from all its perspectives and search for aspects that engage and motivate the job holder. At this point of time the focus is only on job.

Job crafting in executive career development coaching involves tailoring roles to fit personal strengths and interests. Coaches can guide executives to proactively shape their positions, fostering engagement and satisfaction. Encourage executives to redefine tasks, relationships, and responsibilities to align with their career goals, enhancing motivation and performance. This personalized approach leads to a more fulfilling executive career, driving growth and success.

One way to get started is through a coaching process called the Arch of Will which I facilitate. It's based on Gestalt Psychology and it helps explore a topic (usually one where we feel the pressure, but somehow we are stuck) from a rational, emotional and body perspective. It offers a holistic view which supports taking decisions and creating action steps. The process is quite intense and can reveal blind spots, which previously drove behaviour. By understanding these, you can redefine in a conscious way your new career goals and your aspirations will become with your values.

The second step is a focus on job holder as an individual. Every individual is different and has one’s own aspirations and dreams. These need verbalisation. The job holder also has many successful deliveries in the career, and the underlying skills that contributed to success need to be identified. These are the strengths that the job holder should recognise and use them for a successful career. The individual also should identify attitudes and habits that are hindering career progression.

A good coach can help you clearly identify what you find most meaningful in your work-- which often overlaps with what you are best at (and if uniquely good at that, all the better!) - I mentioned doing an inventory of strengths above. Telling a couple of stories that describe times when you found your work especially meaningful can provide important themes to explore further. A coach familiar with "appreciative inquiry" can go a long way toward helping you do this.

When you compare job expectations and improvement opportunities with individual aspirations, strengths and habits, the gaps could be overwhelming. One can only bite what can be chewed, so prioritisation is the key. Set small goals, act on them, try different methods, track them, learn from them and become successful. Success is always a journey. It is a series of small coordinated wins that lead to fulfilment and success.

Yes. Continuous tracking of not only job crafting but also individual habit/attitude changes is important. It’s not only job crafting but also individual crafting.

Evaluate & Monitor: Regular evaluation and monitoring of progress and outcomes are crucial in any endeavor, especially in executive career development coaching. By consistently assessing performance against predefined goals and objectives, executives can identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement. This process enables them to adjust strategies, set new targets, and refine approaches to optimize career advancement. Additionally, ongoing monitoring ensures accountability and maintains momentum toward achieving long-term aspirations. Coaches play a pivotal role in this process by providing feedback, tracking progress, and offering guidance to help executives navigate challenges and capitalize on successes effectively.

Developing a crafting mindset is very important, since success is a journey. A journey of thousand miles begins with the first step. An experienced coach will put before the job holder the appropriate tools in a phased manner. And help the job holder to make self-assessments that lead to specific improvement goals which are owned by job holder. Recording and celebrating accomplishments in each stage will reinforce the momentum for growth. Job crafting by itself is not the end, but individual growth and fulfilment and contributing to organization success are.

In my entry above, I mentioned asking a coach to help you engage in an appreciative inquiry. In addition to identifying aspects of your current job (or past jobs) that you found meaningful, an appreciative inquiry also requires that you explore additional wishes -- then combining those with the factors that have "given life" to meaningful work for you in the past to then inform an articulation of what your ideal job looks like-- think of it in the same way you might a vision statement. Once you have a clear, compelling and inspiring vision, you are ready to figure out how to get from where you are now to where you want to be.

Developing a job crafting mindset: Involves regularly assessing tasks, relationships, and responsibilities to align with personal strengths and values. By consciously seeking opportunities for growth and fulfillment within their roles, individuals can proactively shape their work experiences. Cultivating this mindset involves reflection, experimentation, and a willingness to adapt. Through consistent practice and habit formation, individuals can establish job crafting as a routine part of their approach to work, leading to increased satisfaction and effectiveness in their careers.

Through coaching, I ask my clients to take inventory about areas of their job that give them energy and flow and also identify areas that drain them. Through the process, my clients realize that there are specific areas that they LOVE about their jobs. This is an opportunity for job crafting -doing more things that give you energy and flow, and less of the work that drains you.

From my POV, every position in an organized system is always shaped through job crafting. Why? Because any organized system is defined through organizational culture, meaning that an individual's belief system defines everything within organizational context.. It's like acting: every actor spices the role the script predicts. And with a fast and constantly changing environment and technology, no process can be fixed, and no job is the same as it was yesterday. We are obliged to 'job craft' every day, constantly, permanently.