Executive/Leadership Coaching

Bakhtiar Khawaja
Executive Coach & CEO
Coaching Resolve

1. An Introduction to Executive/Leadership Coaching

In these challenging times and a rapidly changing business environment, high performing leaders, who can empower, inspire and connect people, are in short supply. In response, high performing organizations systematically invest in their leadership development programs. More and more of them consider Leadership Coaching as a high leverage strategic investment, which strengthens and empowers their leaders. Organizations routinely invest heavily in leadership development. Much of this investment goes towards traditional learning and development efforts. During the last few years, many organizations have started to use one-on-one coaching, either on its own, or in conjunction with learning interventions.

“In a recent study, training alone improved leadership skills by 22%. When combined with Executive Coaching, improvement jumped to 77%.” Fortune

What is Executive / Leadership Coaching

Executive Coaching and Leadership Coaching are generally used to mean the same thing. However, there is a fine difference. Leadership Coaching is a wider term, which includes owners of small to medium sized businesses, senior management of non-profit organizations, corporate leaders, administrative and political leadership. Executive Coaching generally refers to senior management of large corporations.

It is also important to differentiate between Counseling, Consulting, Mentoring and Coaching. We sometimes confuse these terms, leading to a misunderstanding about which of the interventions is called for in a given situation. Counseling (or therapy) is for people with deep-rooted behavioural issues, which only a trained psychologist is qualified to conduct. We commonly hear about managers counseling their errant employees. What they are probably doing is training or advising them on appropriate behaviours.

Consulting is done by capable and experienced consultants ‘in a specific line of business or area of organizational work’. Based on their expertise and experience they analyze an organization’s current situation and chalk out strategies for the future, usually with active involvement of company subject specialists.

Mentoring is usually done in-house, by senior leaders within the organization. These leaders primarily share their own experiences and guide younger professionals towards higher levels of performance. Taking advantage of their senior positions, ‘Mentors’ can also be instrumental in opening doors for their ‘Mentees’.

Coaching is unique in that it proposes to empower the ‘Coachees’ by helping them unleash their own creative powers, leading to sustainable learning and behavior change. Coaching often leads to transforming Coachees to become more balanced and productive employees.

Executive & Leadership Coaching produces extraordinary results with high performing leaders, as well as with those who need to bridge performance gaps. If called for, coaches employ a range of diagnostic tools to provide the person being coached with the insight and awareness needed to create a meaningful Personal Development Plan with measurable goals. A mutually agreed combination of face-to-face and Skype-based coaching sessions is helping aspiring leaders from around the world build a path to success without the high cost of travel or absence from the office. Executive Coaches help leaders transform themselves into great leaders. They also assist today’s managers become tomorrow’s leaders by working with them individually to build skills, resolve daily issues and integrate new behaviors. Leaders undergoing coaching often remark how great it is to have a knowledgeable and trustworthy coach in their corner.

Executive Coaching not only delivers results but it also prevents problems. It brings about positive behavior change over time. We support this change in a safe and confidential environment. Executive gain new insight into the key capabilities necessary to achieve their desired results. The one-on-one coaching relationship is designed to encourage proactivity, purposeful dialogue, create new insight, develop new knowledge and skills, and spur personal growth.

By becoming proactive, executives can confidently explore their vision, bring projects to completion and investigate new opportunities. Sharing with someone from outside the organization offers a strictly confidential venue for you to receive an objective perspective. Since coaches have no personal agenda, you gain a true partner in helping you achieve what is most meaningful.

In order to benefit from executive coaching, YOU as a leader have to:

• Be willing to change and give it your 100%
• Be open to constructive criticism
• Listen and discover yourself by welcoming honest feedback

An executive coach helps you take charge of your reality: not dance around it. We require that you ask yourself difficult questions like ‘who are you’ and ‘what do you want’. This requires time and it all depends on how eager you are to change.