How does your executive coaching process work?
My approach to executive coaching is unique in that I approach it from a deep, holistic level versus a surface level. Leadership tips and tricks are great but often fail to address the underlying reasons why our efforts aren’t exactly hitting the mark.
Maybe it’s a need for validation and belonging that is showing up as a failure to correct poor performance and have the difficult conversations that really matter. Or a deep rooted fear of making a mistake that pushes us to micromanage our staff in a way that disempowers them. Or a belief that it’s impossible to trust people with power that shows up as defensiveness or defiance with key stakeholders and is derailing your ability to influence and build rapport. I call myself a transformational executive coach and push my clients to dig deep, and go beyond the surface level issues to understand the true root cause.
Behaviors are the visible things that others can see – what we say and what we do. But sustainable behavior change isn’t created by just slapping a bandaid on something that’s not working. It’s looking beneath the surface of our life’s lily pad – to the underlying stories, needs, beliefs, values, thoughts and feelings that drive our behavior as leaders.
And as we address these underlying root causes I will share valuable tools and frameworks that will build your leadership competency and capability. I’m very well versed in management tends and have been teaching for the University of Texas Center for Professional Education since 2014 – whether it’s a framework for giving feedback or having a difficult conversation, I carry a full leadership tool box that we will leverage in our work together.
The executive coaching goes deep, and my clients typically report three key benefits
Clarity
There’s a lot of noise out there about what you should do and who you should be as a leader. And that’s all very well intended, but it can be overwhelming. What kind of leader do you really want to be? What are you afraid to try? How are you currently holding yourself back? What are your innate superpowers and how would you describe your leadership personal brand? We all have a narrative, the key is to learn yours, own it proudly and lead with it.
Confidence
When we aren’t grounded in our strengths as leaders, we tend to focus on our weaknesses, and we forget how powerful we are. We often give our power away – by not sharing our voice in a meeting, by not asking for what we want or need, maybe we default to pleasing behaviors. Or perhaps we’re lacking leadership competency. We’re thrown into the deep end in a leadership role and just expected to figure it out. Competency builds confidence. As part of our coaching we will utilize helpful tools and frameworks that will enable you to feel more confident in any leadership situation you find yourself in.
Compassion for Self
Life is a whole lot more joyful when you can offer yourself the incredible gift of compassion. Not to be confused with letting yourself or others off the hook, or rationalizing poor performance – compassion is your birthright, it’s linked to your worthiness as a human being and has nothing to do with how much money you make or where you sit on an organizational chart. The best leaders lead from a place of compassionate empathy, and the process of evolving your leadership into this place starts with offering yourself grace.
It’s Dilemmas Like
What My Clients Say
Check out this video to see what my leadership coaching clients say about the transformational power of coaching and how it has improved their leadership authenticity, increased their confidence and provided helpful frameworks and tools.
My Approach to Executive Coaching
You will first take a leadership 360, where colleagues, direct reports and your manager will provide feedback. This will give us a jumping off point for our executive coaching sessions, and will help inform your executive development plan, which we will work on together, as our sessions progress. I have carefully researched a number of 360 assessment tools and utilize the Leadership Circle Profile. The Leadership Circle Profile is unique because it is the only 360 assessment that measures both Creative Competencies and Reactive Tendencies. In this way, it gives you far greater insight into how you think and what you may be doing that is getting in the way of your leadership. It provides an excellent jumping off point for going deep right at the start of a coaching engagement, so we ensure we are addressing the right issues that will move the needle when it comes to your leadership skills. As sessions progress we will work on your leadership development plan, to ensure you are achieving your development goals.