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Executive Coaching
Sharon coaches the people you can least
afford to lose.
How It Begins
A Human Resources exec or department VP calls Sharon
about one of their organization’s key performers.
The performer is in transition.
He’s either moving into a new role and the organization
wants to make sure he hits the ground running, or his performance
is suffering because of some personal or professional issue.
During the call, Sharon learns about the situation.
Who’s concerned about it? What do they hope to accomplish?
What’s already been tried? These and other questions establish
the parameters of the coaching assignment.
From the beginning, Sharon makes it clear that she
works for the company and the coachee. Both must benefit
for the assignment to be a success.
After the call, Sharon speaks with both the coachee
and the coachee’s boss. The “chemistry conversation”
with the coachee is free of charge and key to insuring a good
fit between the coachee and the coach. The conversation with the
boss provides an excellent opportunity for the boss to explain
to Sharon what goals the company wants to achieve through coaching.
The Presenting Problem
Once the organization hires Sharon, she meets the
coachee face to face, where she learns about her background, the
obstacles that hinder her, and the dreams she aspires to. Sharon
also describes the coaching process in detail.
At this first in-person meeting, which lasts about
three hours, Sharon begins coaching on the “presenting problem”
and crafts two or three to-dos based on the problem. This roll-up-the-sleeves-and-get-to-work
approach is different from other coaches, who normally begin with
an assessment. Sharon’s method is more effective, because
it leads to immediate improvement in a tangible area.
When the coachee and organization
see improvement right away, they’re more excited and diligent
in supporting the coaching effort. The changes come more quickly
and are longer lasting.
What Success Looks Like
Once coachees are working on their to-dos, Sharon
begins her data-gathering efforts. She interviews peers, bosses,
and studies performance reviews. She often conducts a 360 degree
feedback survey and meets directly with her coachee to go over
the results.
Most importantly, Sharon uses this data to customize
a development plan of action, which focuses on the two or three
behaviors the coachee most wants to change. The plan is based
on a clearly defined set of “success indicators,”
and will serve to guide the ongoing coaching relationship for
the next six months or year.
Sharon and the coachee then conduct weekly sessions
by phone or in person. During these sessions, Sharon helps her
coachees focus on the outcomes they want, gets them to consider
other perspectives, and gently pushes them to try new behaviors.
In addition to implementing their development plans
and building specific competencies, Sharon helps her coachees
more effectively deal with the day-to-day challenges they face
at work. She calls this aspect of the weekly coaching session
the “radar screen.”
During the radar screen portion of the call, Sharon
and her coachees discuss what happened in the past week, what
can be learned from that, and what are the concerns for next week.
Here, she might help a coachee plan for a presentation
to the board, or manage a difficult employee situation.
An Important Note
Some coaches have one problem-solving methodology
or technique that they teach all their clients. It doesn’t
matter who the client is or what their situation is.
Doing that rarely works. Human beings and situations
are too complex.
A coach has to have an entire toolbox of techniques
and perspectives that she can share with clients. It’s more
a matter of finding the right tool among many, and then coaching
people to have the curiosity to try it and the enthusiasm to make
it work.
This, then, is Sharon’s approach. While
working with a coachee, she doesn’t force anything on them.
Instead, she dips into her vast array of productivity and engagement
tools, and comes out with the ones that are right for that coachee.
Maximum Potential Realized
The sessions become something the coachees look
forward to. They learn fresh perspectives, try out new behaviors,
and start making huge gains – both for themselves and their
organizations.
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