The Power of Coaching
As we shift more and more to a knowledge-based economy, our people continue to become our greatest asset to maximize the success of our product or our service offering. Most organizations recognize this and the real challenge is offering the right types of programs and opportunities to bring the best out in employees. Executive Coaching (not just for executives anymore) needs to be in most companies tool boxes for organizational effectiveness.
What is Coaching?
Coaching is not consulting, counseling or psychotherapy. Coaching is a powerful relationship between two people or a team of people that provides a safe environment to grow and challenge one’s self to engage in an assessment and exploration of goals, help create a plan to achieve measurable results and move forward with sustained change in career and life.
Coaching engagements differ based upon client needs, but generally coaching in the workplace is for skills, development, performance or the executives’ agenda (thinking partner, strategy, wellness, etc).
However, in all coaching, the client must bring their whole self to the table for true change and growth to take place.
Why Coaching?
The coaching relationship provides one of the best ways for a person to obtain true behavior change because it: 1) provides a safe and trusting environment to enable exploration and vulnerability 2) Seeks to help a client come up with their own answers and plans through powerful questioning and other experiential techniques and 3) holds a client accountable for change in a way that works for them.
While group workshops and trainings are very valuable, they do not always create sustainable change in individuals and teams. It takes humans approximately 4 months to truly change ingrained behaviors as the physiology actually involves redirecting neurotransmitters in the brain. Redirecting is best done through repetition and self insight (i.e. finding the answers and ideas within). The coaching process is focused on this type of sustainable growth and change.
The AMA/Institute for Corporate Productivity Coaching Survey 2008 found that that those who have received coaching were more likely than other respondents to say that their subordinates trust their leadership abilities, and they’re more likely to say that they set specific goals for performance at work.
How Does Coaching Work?
Individual coaching is generally done with a combination of in-person and telephone sessions (executive coaching engagements generally last 6-12 months with 45-60 minute phone calls 3 times per month). Coaching can involve the coach interviewing peers, leaders, subordinates and customers; conducting 360 evaluations; asking the client powerful questions and making bold requests; and providing the client with assessments, worksheets and books, etc. The hallmark of a coaching relationship is trust, confidentiality and honesty. Without this, true change and growth cannot occur.
Tem coaching generally involves a team and individual assessment, 1 or 2 off-sites and individual and team sessions over a 6-12 month period.
Clients committed to coaching will transform their lives and careers. They will become better leaders, more balanced professionals and have increased self awareness to navigate their life more effectively. Executive coaching is an essential form of self & leadership development accelerating the growth of leaders and emerging leaders to the next level of performance.
InSight coaches executives, emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in many industries such as healthcare, education and more. Call us for more information on the process and its benefits for your organization.
“In a recent study, training alone improved leadership skills by 22 percent. When combined with Executive Coaching, improvement jumps to 77 percent.”
– Fortune