Executive coaching is a proven method to improve your communication and leadership skills, change behavior, and increase your performance. If you have the chance to work with an executive coach, congratulations, it’s a terrific opportunity!
But you may wonder, “What happens in an executive coaching engagement? What is the process?”
At Arden Coaching, an executive coaching engagement is structured as a one-on-one program of discovery, development, and transformation. We work with clients to focus on very specific goals and the coaching engagement typically lasts six months.
Awareness + Action = Results
Everything we do is built around a partnership that moves you through a deliberate process of:
- Heightened awareness about your current and possible beliefs and behaviors
- Leveraging that awareness to build a tangible plan of action
- Achieving desired goals with measurable results
The idea of a partnership is extremely important. Executive coaches are not trainers or consultants. They will not apply a formula to “fix things” or tell you what to do. The executive coaching process shifts your thinking patterns and behavior. That requires your full participation. For more, read Arden Coaching’s “Executive Coaching is Not ‘Training.’ You Must Be Coachable!”
Executive Coaching: Three Step Process
While based on a tested model, every executive coaching engagement is tailored to your needs. That said, Arden Coaching partnerships are organized in three stages: alignment, 360-degree assessment, and working the plan.
Alignment. First, the coach, the client, and typically, his or her supervisor meet to discuss and determine the specific objectives of the coaching engagement.
The reasons to work with an executive coach vary widely, ranging from improving communication skills and managing priorities more effectively to strengthening emotional intelligence and developing executive presence. Executive coaching programs are results-oriented, so it’s critical that the purpose of the engagement is clearly identified and everyone involved agrees on direction.
360-Degree Assessment. Second, our coaches conduct a 360-degree assessment to assist the client in gaining insights about their behaviors and leadership skills. Depending on the situation, Arden Coaching uses either a quantitative tool called the Leadership Circle Profile or a structured series of stakeholder interviews.
The coach designs and implements the 360-degree assessment and expertly interprets and translates its meaning. The 360-degree assessment results in practical, constructive feedback that acts as a jumping-off point for the client’s process of self-awareness and discovery. For more about 360-degree assessments, read “360 Assessments Result in Big, Positive Changes: When Done Right.”
The coach and the client then work together to create a development plan. This set of goals and steps will serve as an evolving narrative — telling the story of the client’s journey of awareness, discovery, and transformation.
Working the Plan. In the final stage, the client and the coach work through the personalized development plan and the strategies they’ve established together over the six-month period. They’ll meet regularly to discuss actions taken, challenges, successes, and best practices.
The coach will reflect patterns of behavior and thoughts back to the client so they can see themselves more clearly. Coaches also introduce creative and effective alternative ways to approach challenges and explore new opportunities.
Real Results!
Certified by the International Coach Federation, our coaches work with clients at a foundational level to help them identify and become aware of the specific behaviors and patterns of thinking that are holding them back.
Change is often a turbulent, uncertain process, but with a coach at their side, clients have the encouragement they need to embrace change as they are expertly guided toward their goals.
The end-goal is to combine heightened awareness with tangible actions to create measurable results. And real, measurable results are what the executive coaching process is all about.
To learn more about executive coaching and leadership development, contact us at admin@ardencoaching.com or 646.844.2233.