Tiger by the tail

Tiger by the tail

The expanding role of executive coaching

By Shel Hart, Chief Catalyst, FL Venture Catalysts

Are you the king of your jungle? If you’re like most leaders, your hunger, ambition and drive can sometimes overwhelm the people around you. However, effective leadership is more about building relationships than it is about flaunting prowess.

It can get lonely at the “top”. The more you climb the “corporate ladder” the more unreliable the feedback mechanisms become, the more detached you become from the customer, and the easier it is to “plateau” in your leadership development. In today’s dynamic marketplace, immediate results and real time feedback in the context of YOUR current job is paramount. The premise of executive coaching is that an objective third party can provide real time feedback, challenge your performance and do so in the context of your individual situation. A good coach is experienced, unbiased, and isn’t impacted by your decisions.

Is a coach in your future? Many still see coaching as a means to remediate under performance. To the contrary, most high performance organizations utilize executive coaches as a catalyst to hone and develop the skills of their high potential future leaders. The most effective coaching relationships are done with individuals that have:

• A realistic picture of their strengths and weaknesses
• Recognized a significant change in their behavior will lead to enhanced organizational outcomes
• Significant motivation to invest the time and energy it takes to develop themselves
• An appreciation that coaching is a process and results won’t happen overnight
• The capacity to look within themselves and be intellectually honest
• A willingness to be held accountable in the deployment of their enhanced capabilities

Coaching can be change oriented or growth oriented. Whether you’re receiving a promotion, taking a new product to market, developing a fresh approach to an old challenge, trying to sharpen specific skills, on the heels of a failed initiative, or simply trying to counteract a little burn out, the right coach can make a monumental difference.

Coaching is a systematic and experiential process that involves 6 fundamental steps:

1. Select the right coach that has the appropriate mix of business acumen, leadership, organizational development, and psychology background.
2. Determine the gaps between the coaching candidate’s current and ideal state, match gaps with organizational goals, and put definition to the desired outcomes.
3. Objectively assess a “baseline” for the coaching candidate. This can be accomplished through a combination of behavioral based interviews, on-the-job observations, 360 degree feedback from peers / subordinates, and other assessment tools.
4. Coach – The coach will work with the coaching candidate to implement the action plan by: enhancing self awareness of implications of behaviors, building competencies or modifying behaviors, and reflecting on methodologies to refine or improve.
5. Measure results that correlate to meaningful performance metrics.
6. Transition to longer-term leadership development plan.

The benefits of coaching have long been established in larger corporate companies like Dell, Microsoft, and General Electric. Today, the fastest growth segment for executive coaching is within emerging small and middle market companies. To the more entrepreneurial companies, the right executive coach can provide the right mix of structural, leadership, and psychological support to dramatically enhance organizational performance.

Carnivore or not, every leader has room to grow and improve in his or her leadership capability. Working with the right executive coach can help you channel your inner tiger and inspire those around you to achieve to their highest levels of performance.