Executive & Leadership Coaching

Great question and the answer really begins with why you want an executive coach in the first place. "Coaching" has become a huge field with many different perspectives on what coaching should be. Are you looking for a consultant (e.g., someone to tell you based on their view what you need to do differently, or are you looking for someone to challenge your thought process to help you come up with a broader way of thinking about the different situation? This type of question is incredibly important to ensure you are engaging with someone who will be a good fit for you. At Strategy People Culture, you can expect us to consistently be modeled in the theory that your coach's role is to challenge your thinking, support you in expanding past your comfort zone, and be a private accountability partner. While we will certainly share perspectives we may have, you should expect us to push you to a place where you can fully own your decisions so you can better learn from the mistakes and sustain the successes. You can expect your coach to provide a safe and trusted partnership that you may not receive in the day-to-day business context.

What is making better decisions over the course of time worth? What is having your employees better respect you worth? Can you put a price on your own happiness? Effective coaching should strengthen your self-awareness (even if you believe you are already self-aware), make you a better leader, help you see greater perspective to make better decisions, and much much more.

The role of a good executive coach will adapt based on the needs of their clients. SPC coaches will be more thought and challenge partners than advisors. Your coach will challenge your thinking, support you in pushing beyond your comfort zone, and be an accountability partner. This will take many forms, from being a sounding board to being a role model, an outlet to talk about various issues with, and sometimes pushing back when you need it.

Our point of view is an executive coach can ALWAYS be of value. The key is for the leader to be successfully coached to be receptive and open-minded. Coaching unequivocably works best when working with a high achieving and successful leader that is simply looking for help to raise the ceiling of their potential. Other organizations engage coaches when they have a valuable member of the team who is successful in many ways but struggling with a particular issue. Some companies look to coaches to help with last-resort situations to turn around a faltering employee. SPC is not interested in those last-ditch situations as we do not believe they have a high chance of success.

The most important thing is to give real thought to what you are working on between sessions. It is not unusual to have "homework" from meeting to meeting. Ensuring you do the work in between meetings will ensure you achieve maximum results. Beyond that, bring your issues, thoughts, and ideas into the meeting. Executive coaching is about your agenda, not the coaches. If you show up and are present in the conversation, you will have quite a great ride!