Executive Coaching

what is coaching?

“Coaching is the continual shaping of performance by understanding the individual, creating aspirational goals and giving feedback against them.”

Sunday Times

Coaching is a means of evoking effectiveness, high performance, efficiency, direction, focus and bottomline profit. It is also a means of evoking fulfilment, happiness, sustainable personal growth, creativity and a sense of wellbeing. Masterful executive coaching is about eliciting both lists – together.

“Coaching is growing rapidly as it is now more acceptable to get help to develop personal skills.

There is increasing focus on how and why executives do things. There is a greater emphasis on coaching towards business results — a recognition that business and personal growth go hand in hand. It is as much to do with pragmatism as self-actualisation.”

Sunday Times

Being coached is a chance to challenge and evolve our relationship with work and ourselves.

It allows us to introduce new language, new competencies and new thinking in a safe environment. More than that, it allows for ongoing support whilst people put those new thought processes, practices and attitudes to work in the “real world” – allowing for experimentation, feedback and constant readjustment. It is about action not just language – it is the new practices, the new daily ways of being and doing, the new shifts in perspective, that create the long term excellence – hence the often-quoted figures of:

“Following training, employee productivity increased by just over 22%, whereas training combined with coaching produced an increase in productivity of 88%.

Coaching in the workplace positively impacts the bottom line.”

Research by The International Personnel Management Association

Why Coaching – Now?

“If employees don’t trust their employer, or don’t feel they are being treated fairly, this will be reflected in their lack of commitment.

A good line manager makes people want to come to work in the morning. It is this that will gain trust from employees, reduce absence and improve productivity.

It makes good business sense to ensure line managers are trained to motivate, communicate and engage with employees.”

Mike Emmott
CIPD Employee Relations Adviser

What is happening in the world to create this need and desire for coaching in the workplace and in life? During different times in history people in the western world have desired specifics in order to feel they are experiencing success. In the 1960s it only took free love! In the 1980s money was what did it for people. Now as we work through the 21st century people want it all – they want to feel significant; to live lives that matter and also to have the time and money to enjoy their lives.

People are making a stand against what they believe to be the forces that control them. Downshifting is a common phrase and loyalty is dwindling – customers demand more at a lower price and employees want financial and spiritual fulfilment. We want to feel happy, fulfilled and comfortable.

All of this is a challenge for the individual:

• How do they create lives of significance whilst still paying the mortgage?
• How can they be a great parent and a great employee?
• How can they get the fulfilment they crave?
• How to create that all elusive work-life balance?
• How to be true to themselves and find their way through an organisation?
• How do you maintain a sense of being important to an organisation that is global?
• Or undergoing radical technological advancement?
• How do you stand out amongst thousands of employees?

And for organisations:

• How do you reduce stress and therefore absenteeism?
• How do you produce a bottomline profit and keep top quality staff?
• How do you meet customer demands for great service, quality products and a low price?
• How do you retain your talent when company loyalty is so low?
• How do you spend training budgets when employees move job so frequently?
• How to manage employee expectations – we have gone from gratitude for having a job to “what’s in it for me” thinking.

Coaching can help to create trust between parties; shared aspirations that make employees feel like teams; great leadership qualities and a chance for employees and organisations to share values, creativity and possibility in difficult times.

When project managed well and delivered with excellence, coaching boosts the bottomline through developing effective, happy, dynamic people.

“92% agreed that ‘when coaching is managed effectively it can have a positive impact on an organisation’s bottom line’.”

CIPD Coaching and Buying Coaching Services Report 2004

Next steps?

To discuss how coaching can make an impact on your company, email us or call us on +44 (0)20 7099 0890 to arrange a time to speak to one of our senior coaching team.