Unlike the
consultant, the coach works in partnership with the client to discover
solutions together, finding them through careful listening, provocative
questioning, enlightened guidance, and the right level of prompting at
the right time. To a great degree the coach's goal is to enable the
client to find the right answers by him or herself.
Coaching takes place across a
board spectrum of areas, challenges, and situations. By its very nature,
coaching is a flexible, adaptable and fluid way of achieving measurable
results.
An initial meeting of one hour
is scheduled, during which the rapport between coach and client is
assessed. As coaching is based on a close interpersonal relationship and
mutual trust, contracting is not viable unless both coach and client
are satisfied that they will be able to work together.
If this initial meeting proves
to be successful, the coach is contracted for a minimum of 12 sessions. In
this time the coach and client meet every three weeks for 1.5 hours. The coach is also available for one additional hour per month to
assist the client telephonically.
Following the first session,
an agenda is defined and contracted between the coach and the client. If
required, this agenda may, with the permission of the client, be shared
with the sponsor of the coaching. This agenda will form the basis for
the contract, but the scope and content of the dialogue between coach
and client will not be limited by this agreement.
The client will formally
assess progress on the agenda, once at the end of session 6, and again
towards the end of the coaching contract. These assessments may, with
the permission of the client, be shared with the sponsor for coaching.
The relationship between the
coach and the client is governed by a strict code of ethics, and is
highly personal in nature - success in the venture depends on mutual
trust. No information or content of discussions will be shared with
anyone outside the sessions, unless explicit agreement is obtained from
the client.
Typical goals of Executive Coaching include:
- Increase the range, flexibility, and effectiveness of your repertoire.
- Increase your capacity to manage the organization- planning, organizing, staffing, leading, controlling, cognitive complexity, decision making, tasks, jobs, roles, etc.
- Improve your psychological and social competencies. (social awareness and understanding, tolerance of ambiguity, range of emotional responses, group dynamics, unconscious conflict, stress management)
- Increase your ability to manage self and others in conditions of environmental and organizational turbulences, crisis and conflict.
- Increase your ability to manage your career and to advance professionally.
- Improve your ability to manage the tensions between organizational, family, community, industry, and personal needs and demands.
- Improve the effectiveness of the team (this could include the individual to team, team on individual and inter-individual).