Tuesday, June 08, 2010

What Can Executive Coaching Help With?

Leadership Development
Enhancing the leadership performance skills of key executives within an organisation is vital to the success of any business. This leads to the increased productivity and profitability of the company as a whole.
Managers and business executives alike have used coaching as a tool to help them further develop their leadership skills. An executive coach is non biased and objective and as such, is free to ask even the most awkward of questions. These are questions that may otherwise have remained untendered, due to a colleague’s unwillingness to voice any concerns or objections or even to make suggestions for fear of reprisal. Often it is the answers to these sometimes difficult questions that are the catalyst to change and corporate or commercial advancement.
Raising Performance
Finding good staff is hard enough these days, finding real performers, even more so. When one of your key players takes their eyes off the ball, as happens from time to time, it is important to address the issue as quickly as possible.
Our executive coaches specialise in getting people back on track, refocusing their attention and reframing situations to realign their priorities and raise their performance. Many high performers will actually request help of their own volition, knowing that something is off and that it needs to be rectified so that they can once again enjoy the fruits of success.
Stress Management
With the number of reported cases of illness brought on through work related stress, at an all time high, it is important that, as an employer, you watch for any of the tell-tale signs. As soon as you suspect that stress may be playing a part in the underperformance of your workforce, you should act to find a solution.
It is estimated that the average case of stress induced leave equates to a 31 day absence from work. Stress has a negative effect on people’s mental, physical and emotional well being. Stress can damage working relationships, sometimes irreparably. And stress can lead to reduced productivity and ultimately to claims against the company for compensation.
At Inspiring Potential, we address the causes of stress; we don’t just deal with the symptoms. We get to the root of the issue helping employees to develop new ways to rid themselves of stress.
Self Confidence
Anyone who has ever had their confidence knocked, be it at work or in a social environment will instantly recognise the signs. These can include an unwillingness to take on new roles or responsibilities, indecision, defensive behaviors, a general withdrawal or introversion and a negative outlook.

An Inspiring Potential coach will work with the individual to uncover the root cause of this predicament and empower them to take responsibility for change. The Inspiring Potential coach will help them to recognise that they have power to control their level of self confidence and that they can adopt new strategies to act with greater self confidence.
Management Style
Good people managers are inspirational; they bring out the best in people, allowing them to perform to the height of their abilities. They make the workplace a fun place to be, a vibrant and productive arena in which teamwork and individual performance are recognised and rewarded.
Good people managers are crucial to the success of a company. They are in touch with the morale of their team and they facilitate the free flowing of ideas and communication throughout the working environment. They also reduce the level of staff turnover and help to realise an individual’s potential as well as boosting the self confidence of those in their charge.
Our one to one manager training programmes are designed to help new and established managers address existing issues and deal with any issues arising. They will increase the managers’ self awareness, encourage them to take responsibility and ownership and to try out new behaviors in order to resolve these issues. Our programmes will encourage improved emotional intelligence to enable them to communicate properly with their team.
Resolving Conflict
Inspiring Potential can help you and your people managers communicate more effectively, reducing and resolving workplace conflict. If appropriate, we can host facilitated sessions between the parties involved or work with each party on a one to one basis through our Executive Coaching programmes.
Perhaps these issues have come up as a result of an employee review or a 360° feedback report. One of our coaches would then work with the individual to get to the root of the issue. One of the tools we use is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. This helps us to understand the different personality types at work within your organisation. We are then able to suggest the implementation of strategies to resolve the conflict.
Handling New Roles
As an executive, you are supposed to know all the answers and most probably do; it is just that this is a new role to you and perhaps things weren’t properly explained by the previous incumbent. Perhaps the job role as it was previously understood, has changed slightly and there are other protocols to follow.
Without this inside knowledge, it is difficult to assume full responsibility; but assume full responsibility you must, in the full and certain knowledge that there are those amongst the existing staff that are just waiting for you to fall on your face. At Inspiring Potential we work with you to find ways in which you can quickly bring your new team members on side, helping them to help you, and feel good about doing so.