Executive coaching is an invaluable tool for any organization looking to develop their leadership skills from the top down. It provides an outside professional perspective that can lead to rapid and effective personal development. To ensure that your team is getting the most out of their individualized executive coaching sessions, there are several steps you can take as a leader. First, it is important to select a suitable leadership coach.
Look for someone who is accredited by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC), a member of the Coaching Association, and has experience in leadership training programs. Additionally, make sure they have accreditation in psychometric techniques such as DISC, Insights, Hogan, and Myers Briggs. This will help you and your coach to better understand how they behave and why. Second, it is essential to clarify your leadership purpose.
Ask yourself what you want to achieve through executive coaching and define your development goals. This will help you create a specialized coaching plan that is tailored to your needs. Third, consider obtaining some objective data to provide a new perspective. There are several psychometric techniques available that can help you understand your personal motivations and behavioral trends.
Fourth, make a concerted effort to get to know each of your employees on a deeper level. Learn about each person's strengths and weaknesses; what they excel at and what challenges them; what motivates them and what they find discouraging. Along with formal personality tests, consider having each member of your team perform periodic self-evaluations and use the results to ensure that you are using each employee as effectively as possible. Finally, keep in mind that attending executive coaching sessions is only a small part of the commitment you'll have to make if you want to experience the kind of transformation you desire. Leadership training programs are often grouped into packages of 4 to 8 sessions of a couple of hours each, but it's important to remember that this is only the beginning. By following these steps, leaders can ensure that their team is getting the most out of their individualized executive coaching sessions.
With the right coach and the right plan in place, organizations can achieve great success in developing their leadership skills from the top down.
