If you are not leveraging executive leadership coaching in your everyday leadership, odds are your performance is be greatly curtailed.

In the current dispensation, where disruption has become a popular buzzword, many senior executives have been put under the spotlight. To succeed, a great majority of executives needs to hit the ground running, and running really fast.

Why not?

The increasing changes in technology and the impact of its cousins –  fluctuations in the global financial market, and unrealistic economic policies are making a huge demand on leadership.

If you are following the trends of late, you would probably be aware that…

a) In less than 30 years from today, the best CEO could be a robot.

b) Very soon, Blockchain will disrupt 9 industries. 

c) Artificial Intelligence (AI) will change the way leaders make decisions.

The story is the same at the home front, where stakeholders demand improvement in their return on investment. To my mind, there has never been a time when becoming a senior executive is more challenging than now. The complexities under which many executives operate erode confidence, increase self-doubt, and exert fear even on the best CEOs. 

How can senior executives lead their organizations with clarity, achieve a consistent growth, and maintain a satisfactory life balance? The answer lies in leveraging executive leadership coaching.

More than a decade ago, many companies invested in executive leadership coaching to improve behaviours at the top. Things have changed now, and the scope of executive coaching is widening also. In my executive coaching work, I coach senior executives and their teams to develop high-performance. My coaching approach supports my client to develop clarity about their organizations’ directions.

Developing self-awareness is probably the number one benefit that the best executive coaching program will offer. Self-awareness is the result of focused attention, concentration, and clarity. Like seeing through a magnifying glass, the leader gains a clearer understanding of his or her core ideology. He or she becomes aware of their strengths, weaknesses, thought patterns, and emotional tendencies. They also have greater ability to see what others won’t and determine actions that are most relevant for their organizations.

Awareness is critical to the success of top leaders. It helps leaders to understand their personal psychologies – core values, beliefs, and emotional intelligence. It is relevant also for understanding systems and the relationships between people and things in the organization.

What impacts does executive leadership coaching make?

There are many benefits to derive from implementing executive leadership coaching.

According to International Coach Federation (ICF) executive leadership coaching can increase productivity, develop positive people, and maximize return on investment.

As a tool for unlocking human potential and performance, 70% of organizations studied achieved improved performance with executive coaching services. 61% improved business management, 57% improved time management, while 51% improved team effectiveness.

As a leadership development tool, 80% of the people improved self-confidence while 73% improved relationship capability. 72% improved communication skills, and 67% improved life/work balance.

As a sales and profitability growing tool, 68% of individuals coached achieve more returns than they invested in coaching. 86% of companies recouped their investments in executive coaching services.

The problem of “self-acclaimed coaches”

The key challenge I see in coaching presently is untrained people parading themselves as coaches. This is not healthy for both the coaching industry and clients who may fall into the hands of these “quacks.” Many of the self-made coaches are from consulting, human resources, or counseling backgrounds. Others evolve from motivational speaking, psychology, and retired chief executives. 

Contrary to professional coaching ethics, untrained coaches offer advice, and profer solutions to their clients’ problems. They use motivational speaking to arouse their clients and abandon them halfway with no meaningful results. Such approach will neither help the client to gain self-awareness nor maximize their potential.

Executive leadership coaching is more than interpreting a 360-degree inquiry or analyzing a SWOT analysis. The difference between coaching and other interventions is the impact each makes on both the executive clients and their organizations.

The good news is that anyone having a passion for coaching can train to become an accredited executive coach. A good coach training offers accreditation to practice as a coach. It also acquaints new coaches with comprehensive coaching core competencies to become the best they can.

Executive Coaching impact on leadership development

As I coach leaders or train new coaches, my awareness deepens that executive coaching shapes leadership capability. Consider leadership skills such as communication, motivation, giving feedback, listening actively, or accountability; these are ‘bread n butter’ of coaching. Coaching allows leaders to practice these skills on a more regular basis.