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Executive coaching is on the rise, providing leaders with an opportunity to engage in professional development and consider issues that are current and relevant. Will Clement, MD at Clement Leadership Development considers the role of executive coaching and how, if done right, can provide clarity, perspective and purpose.
Executive or business coaching is more important than ever, due in no small part to the swiftness of transformation and change within the public sector. This speed and expectation draw our focus on results and outcomes and can take away the ability to broaden our horizons and see emerging trends.
Speed of change and development
The speed of change necessitates the need for more concentrated development options for leaders.
As an organisation, we’re seeing that professional development is changing for leaders and executives and now includes concentrated hour-long sessions, focussed on discussing issues and outcomes.
Development for leaders requires depth and pace, and coaching is increasingly the go-to solution as it provides a ‘just in time’ option that fits around busy, demanding, professional lives.
In a transformational process, coaching challenges leaders through several lenses. Coaching can provide oversight of leadership environments to provide clarity and a real sense of perspective. From this viewpoint, quality actions can be explored which ensures a sense of realism in solutions and achievement.
Leaders require more, in less time, and a solution that is pertinent to them. Our feedback indicates that coaching is popular due to its dynamic and personal nature – a discussion centred around the person, not a theory.
Executive coaches immerse themselves into the individual’s world, never to provide an opinion, but to challenge them to broaden horizons, identify blind spots and create meaningful actions.
Many public sector organisations adopt an internal coaching framework, which is purposeful toward a positive culture. There is, however, a need for external intervention too. An opportunity to enter into coaching with someone who has separation from both the individual and their organisation.
In our experience, this independence supports openness and provides a platform for the present and tomorrow.
Coaching benefits for organisations
More leaders and executives are utilising coaching to enhance their ability to discuss the here and now, in a safe and confidential space.
Deeply personal, coaching is a challenging development intervention. It’s an opportunity to spend time sharing thoughts, ideas and sometimes fears, with an independent party.
One executive team engaged in individual coaching to ensure that they each had the opportunity to talk independently, openly and honestly to provide clarity before a large change programme.
“It helped us to individually explore options with someone unconnected before we came together to work on the change programme. The coaching provided a sense of clarity of thought and embedded why we were doing this in the first place. While this might have been obvious, it was important to us that we had the opportunity to discuss professional and personal approaches upfront”
As our independent executive coaches were not involved in the change programme, we were able to put aside any internal views, remain objective and challenge thinking through critical discussions.
The advantage of the team receiving individual coaching brought both a focus on the change and potential emergent themes clearly into the spotlight.
Coaching, an individual journey
Executive coaching considers the individual from a humanistic perspective.
There’s an opportunity to broaden horizons, restore and help organise thoughts in full – confident in the knowledge that our coaches are experienced and qualified in attuned listening, critical questioning and positive challenge.
Selecting a coach is important. Leaders and executives are embarking on a professional journey that requires trust, confidentiality and the skill of the coach to keep them focused and on track. A good coach will be a critical friend.
Executive coaching is an established practice with tangible developmental outputs that are designed around the individual. If you are thinking of coaching, for you, your team or your wider organisation, do your homework and take advantage of the ‘chemistry’ meeting that any credible coach should offer before any coaching is considered.
More Information:
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