Executive coaching is a custom one-on-one program between a professionally trained coach and a mid- to senior-level executive designed to help the executive with tasks such as improving job performance, preparing for a promotion, or learning to work efficiently with others. The best matches occur when the coach has had experience with the business environment or industry of the executive, provides progress surveys and feedback, and helps the executive change behaviors or reach desired goals within a defined timeframe. Since leadership development today is an ongoing, personalized process, coaching produces the best, most lasting and effective results as an ongoing process. To receive the specific, personalized training you need to reach certain goals, you will want to select a coach that specializes in the niches you need: business coaching, personal or life coaching, and psychological counseling. A business coach teaches the executive about career-stalling behaviors, coworker development, team building, communication, and conflict management. A life coach focuses more on relationships, career choices, and behavior modification. A psychologist (who may operate either as a therapist or a coach, depending on whether he uses a medical model or a coaching model) delves more into the past and helps resolve childhood issues. While there will always be some overlap between business and personal coaching, the business coach’s focus is much more oriented toward workplace issues and leadership skills. In my coaching practice, Integrative Mastery Programs, I focus on teaching executives how to be better leaders, coaches, and managers. One way we develop these skills involves the creation of a Personal Life Vision, which is a values-based statement that allows the executive to structure his organization and his management style around his values. I have seen amazing changes in people’s points of view, management styles, personal achievement, and goals from completing this crucial exercise. A good executive coach operates under an infrastructure that provides a professional organization, adequate experience, and helpful resources. The coach should have worked at the experience level of the executive being trained, to best understand the executive’s needs and stresses. The coach should use diagnostic instruments, such as surveys, to accurately identify the client’s developmental areas. The best executive coach can proudly display examples of his or her coaching effectiveness and show how past clients have benefitted from coaching. It is most important for the executive and organization to agree on desired goals and ways to determine if those goals are being met by the executive coaching before engaging in a program. The best business executives rely on an industry-experienced coach to maintain their competitive edge. Another tool executive coaches use is a worksheet or programmatic approach. My book, Soul Proprietorship: 8 Critical Steps for Overcoming Problems in Business and Life, provides a step-by-step approach to the systems I use in coaching and is an invaluable tool and resource for the executive that goes hand in hand with our coaching together.

alkilleen

Executive coach

Al Killeen, owner and president of Integrative Mastery Programs in Boulder, Colorado, focuses on identifying your personal values to create a fulfilled personal and professional life vision. To learn more about Al’s successful coaching methods go to . Executive coach, coaching, success, business, training, personal development