Saturday, August 30, 2014

The Many Advantages Of Employing Executive Coaching Services

By Mattie MacDonald


One of the main characteristics of modern corporate life is the immense pressure placed on individuals and teams to perform, to be innovative and to be productive. The competition for advancement is tremendous. Businesses try to identify those individuals that show exceptional promise and groom them for more senior posts. By employing executive coaching services these promising individuals are mentored and polished.

Newly appointed managers often have to accept a leadership role in teams that consist of people that were formerly their peers. This transition is not always easy. A mentor can help the newly appointed manager to adapt to his new role. The mentor will also steer the mentored individual towards personal growth and increased productivity. Another important role of the coach is to help the manager to achieve self fulfillment.

Many companies recognize the fact that even members of senior management may be in need of a coach. Over time, managers may become less innovative, set in their ways and unable to objectively consider new ideas and innovations. A coach can help them to rediscover their vigor and their creativity. This can lead to improved leadership and productivity at the top levels of the company.

It would be a mistake to expect a coach to provide practical advice on how to manage or how to achieve the goals of the organization. That is the role of the manager. The role of the coach is to help the manager to discover solutions to dilemmas, to apply techniques that will lead to effective decisions and to act as facilitator and motivator.

The cost of a mentor can be very high, as much as the cost of hiring a top notch lawyer. It must also be understood that mentoring is time consuming. The mentor must establish a relationship with the client and this takes time. Many companies therefore only appoint coaches for those individuals that are deemed to be pivotal to the future success of the enterprise.

The appointment of a coach should be undertaken with great circumspect. Coaches often enjoy a privileged relationship with their clients. They sometime exercise tremendous influence and can actually indirectly affect the decisions made by the client. It is therefore important to choose a coach with an outstanding reputation. Care should also be taken to make sure that the coach is properly qualified and that he is an accredited member of authoritative industry bodies.

Different coaches follow different theories and they apply a wide variety of techniques and methods in order to achieve their goals. It is vital, however, that the coach be briefed on the expectations of the company, the background of the individual that is to be coached and the goals that need to be achieved during the contract period. This should all be made part of a written agreement between the company and the coach.

No business can afford to become complacent. It is necessary to keep innovating and to do everything possible to remain ahead of the competition. This requires strong and creative leadership. A coach can play an important role in building stronger leaders that are confident and dynamic.




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