What does an executive coach do? The career benefits might surprise you.
What does an executive coach do? The career and personal growth benefits might surprise you.
Have you ever considered hiring an executive coach to help advance your career? If not, you might be surprised by the many benefits that coaching can provide.
So, what exactly does an executive coach do?
Essentially, they work with professionals to help them identify and achieve their personal and professional goals. They do this through a variety of methods, including one-on-one coaching sessions, and personalised development plans.
But the benefits of working with an executive coach go far beyond just goal setting. Coaches can help professionals develop various skills, including improved communication, influencing across all levels, enhanced leadership abilities, deliver better outcomes, and increased self-awareness. In fact, many executives who have participated in coaching report an increase in their self-confidence, releasing self-doubt, and an improvement in their job performance as a result of the experience.
So, if you're looking to take your career to the next level, don't discount the power of executive coaching. It could be the key to unlocking your full potential and achieving your professional goals.
If you’re interested in improving your leadership performance and career potential, you’ve probably been looking at development options. One of those is coaching, but there are many different forms and choosing the right one can be difficult. It’s confusing, isn’t it? Today I want to begin answering your questions, so I’m kicking off with this important one: what does an executive coach do?
An executive coach works with high-potential employees to get the best out of themselves. For example, I’m known for being the Genius Maker.
What is executive coaching?
Let’s start at the beginning by defining executive coaching.
Executive coaching is a process in which a coach works with an executive of an organisation, high-potential employees and business owners, helping them build critical personal and professional skills to improve their professional performance, self-confidence and career prospects.
Whom might an executive coach work with?
Generally, executive coaches work with the organisation’s senior-high-level leadership team members. That could include the Founder, MD, CEO and senior leaders. People at this level need more than leadership coaching because they face a unique range of challenges and have few support options. Given their already demonstrated leadership ability, executive coaching is about polishing specific areas to improve performance and provide the feedback you’re unlikely to receive from people around you – especially as they are probably reporting to you.
Is executive coaching right for you?
That’s another very good question. People approached me for my executive coaching services, saying they’d been told they need help. That’s not enough to make coaching the right tool for the job.
Coaching isn’t training. An executive coach won’t present material to you as a trainer does. Coaching requires commitment, the readiness for self-examination and the willingness to put in the hard work of self-improvement. The people I work with are ambitious and driven to be the best they can be. They're on a mission to intensify their influence, impact, and income, so their careers thrive.
What does an executive coach do?
So now we get to the question. Here’s the answer. An executive coach works with high-level operators to not only improve their performance but to benefit organisational performance overall. As an independent entity, the coach is impartial. Executives can honestly reveal their thoughts, concerns, and hopes without fear that doing so will impede their roles in any way.
They gain more awareness about how to reach their goals. Executive coaches can also help these leaders learn how to better work with, guide, and lead their people. Much of the focus of an executive coach is on navigating the relationships in the business world to push organisations to greater success.
We see patterns and ask tailored questions to help people clarify and solve their problems.
As humans, we're all built differently, so there's no one-size-fits-all; my approach is situational. My coaching methods are Neuroscience, human behaviour-based, and tailored specifically to the individuals I work alongside.
A targeted approach provides clear guidance and practical methods with the primary purpose of building skill and performance through both personal and professional development and identifying and enhancing leadership effectiveness.
I draw on my extensive business and leadership background, bringing a multi-dimensional approach combining coaching, mentoring, and consulting methodology to break comfort zones and facilitate long-term growth and development.
Through coaching, executives will improve various aspects of their competencies, including but not limited to;
- Understanding how to Leverage Human Behaviour
- Communication Skills
- Intensifying Impact
- Influencing Skills.
- Executive Presence
- Problem Solving & Decision Making
- Self-Awareness
- Emotional Intelligence
- Building Accountable, High Performing Teams
- Motivation, Engaging and Mentoring Talent
- Tough Empathy
- Fearless Agility
- Adaptability and Relevant
- Clarity & Vision
- Strategic & Commercial Thinking & Implementation
- Generating New Ideas
- Managing Finances and Budgets
- Delivering Results
Similar to leadership coaching, executive coaching can help you build or improve relationships with peers and teams; it does so from a much broader organisational perspective.
Are you looking to unlock your full potential and achieve your professional goals? If so, executive coaching might be the key.
But how can coaching help you reach your full potential?
Here are a few ways:
- Set clear goals: An executive coach can help you define your goals and create a plan to achieve them. They will work with you to identify any roadblocks or challenges that may be holding you back and help you develop strategies to overcome them.
- Develop skills: Coaching can help you build a range of skills that are critical for success, including improved communication, enhanced leadership abilities, and better influencing skills.
- Increase self-awareness: By working with a coach, you can gain a deeper understanding of your strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. This increased self-awareness can help you make better decisions and lead more effectively.
- Boost confidence: Many executives who have participated in coaching report an increase in their self-confidence as a result of the experience. This can be especially beneficial if you're looking to take on new challenges or responsibilities in your career.
Overall, executive coaching can be a powerful tool for unlocking your full potential and achieving your professional goals. So don't wait any longer - start your coaching journey today!
I hope this has helped clarify the role of an executive coach, and in my next post, I’ll dig further into the differences between coaching and executive coaching. If you have questions about this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave your question in the comments below, or feel free to contact me.
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P.S. Whenever you’re ready… here are three ways I can help you intensify your impact, influence and income.
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Caroline Kennedy, author of Lead Beyond 2030: The Nine Skills You Need to Intensify Your Leadership Impact, is an accomplished, award-winning CEO and global thought leader on business and leadership. She is a highly sought-after mentor and coach to top global executives. A respected keynote speaker and author, Caroline’s methods are neuroscience-based to achieve rapid development and growth.