When you have reached the top of an organisation, it can be difficult to retain personal development training. Learning opportunities are rare and finding a person for support within your organisation becomes less easy, particularly for CEOs. Any individual who wishes to excel and perform at their best, however, requires meaningful feedback. That is why we believe executive coaching is a necessity for all senior members at C-Suite and board level.

A coaching intervention, whilst normally for an individual can be made at three levels, individual, team and organisational. Individual drivers include supporting strategic decision-making, addressing career-limiting behaviour, and developing personal effectiveness. Team drivers include developing high-performing teams, and coaching teams created for specific projects, while organisational drivers could be linked to managing key transitions and changes. In this article, we focus on coaching for an individual.

The process of choosing the right coach

Before working with an executive, we agree to clear outcomes and measurable targets to ensure we focus on improving the key objectives.

It is crucial that any coaching programme involves an executive and coach agreeing to clear outcomes without any unexamined assumptions. You should expect your executive coach to:

• Provide 360-degree feedback, including regular reviews and evaluations.

• Match structures, approaches and styles to fit desired outcomes.

• Adhere to a strict confidentiality and safety agreement.

• Assure there is a personality match between coach and coachee.

The benefits of working with an executive coach:

Executive coaching has numerous potential benefits. As you can see from our coaching solutions page, we have listed several of them, which include:

• Learning and confidence that sticks and is repeatable.

• Improved proactive and coping methods. Coaching can help change behaviours whilst solving actual business problems.

• Releasing an individual’s full potential by providing the best learning tools to handle corporate transition.

• Faster and more effective results by freeing up thinking so important decisions are taken with much more confidence.

• Improved communication leading to more productive and engaged teams.

Numerous studies have proven the positive effects executive coaching can have on leadership. One study involving a Fortune 500 firm, showed a 529% return on investment from coaching which boosted to 788% when including the financial benefits from employee retention.

We once coached a new managing director from a leading luxury brand. As part of our executive coaching service, we provided the new director with the support he needed to step back from daily operations to focus on the brand’s future aims and success.

Here is what he had to say:

‘What helped me was to sit back with you and reflect upon how to best communicate our purpose and our victories. My second most important win when discussing with you was to identify what the team most needed in terms of direction and focus and working on it. I am now implementing just that, focusing on choosing goals, setting targets for my team and giving them resources.’

Potential coaching risks

As executive coaches with 30 years of experience, we understand both the benefits and potential risks when working with a coach.

Here are some of the potential risks and how we overcome them:

- The lure of easy answers can prevent core issues from being addressed.

We work from a systemic level to get to the root cause of fundamental problems. While this process can take longer, it will lead to sustainable results.

- The executive becomes too dependent on the coach.

Our coaching plans involve regular reviews and feedback including a final review to set a new direction for the executive. Our coaches are also under supervision.

- Individual and organisational interests can come into conflict

To prevent this from happening, our initial agreement covers clear definitions of loyalties and circumstances relating to communication by the coach outside the relationship.

Why choose Serenity in Leadership executive coaching?

After 17 years as an officer in the Royal Marines, our CEO Thom Dennis spent the next 30 years of his career helping companies create effective cultures through coaching and training. He is an accomplished facilitator, international speaker, #1 best-selling author and NED who has coached many Fortune and FTSE 500 senior executives through personal and organisational change.

We adapt our bespoke methods to suit your style and approach to working. Our years of expertise, knowledge and leadership training have equipped us with the best tools and practices to equip you with the skills you need to be successful in the future.

Visit our contact page to arrange a free, 15-minute consultation call to discuss our executive coaching solutions today.