Are you looking to take your leadership skills to the next level? Executive coaching is a great way to do just that. It provides a safe, structured, and reliable environment in which to offer support to the person. Through executive coaching, leaders can develop the strategies, habits, and attitudes they need to successfully lead others. In one of the few longitudinal studies, Smither and his colleagues (200) analyzed the effectiveness of executive coaching and found that it can be an effective tool for developing leadership skills.
This positive image of coaching has been embraced by multiple stakeholders, including organizations, psychologists, and accredited bodies. The traits of an ideal candidate for executive coaching aren't necessarily related to experience or degree. It's more about having the right attitude and willingness to learn. Before committing to an executive coach, it's important to set up an early meeting between the coach and the candidate to see if they're a good match.
The typical executive coaching commitment is six months, although it can last longer and even last for years. During this time, the coach will challenge leaders to create measurable goals and develop plans to gradually achieve them. A qualification in the area of organizational behavior provides another valuable source of knowledge for executive coaches. I once had a 24-year-old client, we'll call him Ryan, who sought executive advice and paid for it out of pocket.
He was able to make the most of the opportunity and saw key positive aspects in his development over nearly three decades. Organizations can use executive coaching to determine what type of coach is right for the executive based on needs analysis. If the organization is not sure what the executive needs, it can hire a coach to help it identify the problem, for example, by analyzing their needs. In this analysis, the executive coach asks profound questions about how he is perceived in a multitude of leadership capacities.
