Executive Coaching

Executive coaching is a specific type of training and education for managers, supervisors and other high ranking staff members, something that is crucial for their development, yet often overlooked due to the cost, negative perception and time involved. This type of training allows individuals to progress from the position they currently hold to where they want to be or where their employer needs them to be within an organization.  This personalized training turns individuals that have been deemed to have high potential into successful and effective leaders with greater responsibilities.   It is also effective for leaders undergoing a restructure or other major change within their organization.

Although executive education is most often designed to improve performance within an organization, it can also result in personal growth, job satisfaction and contentment for the individuals involved.  This is due to the fact that executive coaches encourage self-discovery so clients can ultimately strive towards their individual professional goals.  For this reason individuals often sign up for executive education themselves when dissatisfied with their careers.  In these cases, the training sessions would be geared towards the specific needs of the individual.

Executive training strategies include field experiments, powerful and thought provoking questions, feedback, progress reports, assessments and homework all within the coach’s specific field of expertise whether it be psychology, sports or business. To be effective, coaches should be well educated, experienced and certified within their field, with a credible and confident personality.  In general, executive education programs last from six months to a year in length, typically with one to two hour sessions per week.

Of course, competence of the coach will not matter if the executive in question does not want to or feels they do not need to change.  This is often the case in restructuring “fall out.”  To be successful for both the individual and the organization,  the candidates for executive education must be totally committed to change, willing to face and accept both positive and negative feedback.

Unfortunately some employees feel they do not need executive training because they feel it is perceived as remedial or punishment, due to a quality lacking in their personalities.  This misleading conception is most unfortunate since the most effective and successful CEOs are in tune with the strengths and weaknesses of their companies and its employees, especially the higher ranked ones.   A misguided sense of power resulting in self-absorption can be extremely detrimental to any organization.

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Executive Coaching

coaching

Hiring an executive coach to train the employees that show the most potential in an organization, enabling them to take on more responsibilities, may possibly be the smartest move a CEO can make.  An individual looking to improve their own position in the workplace, perhaps even dissatisfied with their own performance, can also benefit from executive education.  Executive coaches are also beneficial for employees in an organization whose internal personnel structure has changed or reshuffled.  Regardless of the circumstances under which executive training is sought after, and for whom the training is designated for, the process is similar.

Executive education or coaching is simply specialized training for individuals in the business industry to improve their chances of success in different, usually higher, positions within an organization.  Coaching provides the individual with the opportunity to set goals, develop skills, and therefore enhance their overall performance.   The process involves assessments, specific exercises, feedback, progress reports,  thought provoking questions and assignments, typically in one or two hour sessions over a span of six months to one year.

Executive coaches are certified, experienced, well-educated and respected in their field of expertise.  They must also possess an open, honest, and trustworthy personality to ensure the success of the training program for which they are hired.  The specific goals and needs of the individual trainee must be addressed to encourage self-discovery and the ultimate success of the executive training exercise.

Some individuals may be threatened by the request that they attend executive education, treating it as remedial action or feeling singled out by upper management.  They may not recognize the fact that this form of training can be extremely beneficial to both employee and employer, or may not feel they need the training involved.  Unfortunately, this type of employee, regardless of where they sit in the ranks of the organization, will probably not benefit from executive education unless they improve their attitude and commit to change, permitting acceptance of both positive and negative feedback.

The most successful CEOs recognize and make the most of the varied and individual strengths and weaknesses of themselves as well as their employees.  These CEOs acknowledge that personal growth and job satisfaction for all employees are very important elements in a successful organization that must be maintained from the top down.  To deny or ignore this fact by failing to provide the required executive education can be severely detrimental to any organization.

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