Scores of companies have made coaching a core part of executive development.  The belief is that, under the right circumstances, one to one interaction with an objective third party can provide a focus that other forms of organisational support simply cannot.  Whereas coaching was once viewed by many as a tool to help correct underperformance, today it is much more widely used in supporting top performers and those identified as having the potential to reach the top.  Research conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers in July 2009 for the International Coach Federation shows that companies that have used executive coaches to support their business have seen a median return on investment of seven times the initial investment.  In short, executive coaching is a cost effective way of delivering individual development and achieving rapid results.

What is Coaching?

Coaching is a form of learning where a coach supports an individual to create learning and self-development and improve performance as a result.  Coaching often speeds up learning.  It is one to one and totally focused on the individual.  People enlist the support of a coach because they want to step up to business challenges and achieve their goals faster.  They want to learn new ways of thinking and approaching situations in order to perform better and develop their flexibility to respond better to future challenges and opportunities.  Common benefits from coaching can include:

• Clarity of direction and focus;
• Increased knowledge of self / self-awareness;
• Improved ability to relate to and influence others;
• Increased motivation;
• Improved personal effectiveness, e.g. focused effort; and
• Increased resourcefulness / resilience.

An effective coach is someone who actively listens to and works with an individual to understand the issues and identify solutions and strategies to achieve specific objectives.  A coach will focus solely on an individual’s situation with the kind of attention and commitment that is rarely experience elsewhere.  The coach will listen to an individual, with genuine curiosity to understand who they are, what they think and generally how they experience the world.  The coach will reflect back to the individual, with the kind of objective assessment that creates real clarity.  During conversations a coach will encourage an individual to rise to challenges, overcome obstacles, think differently, explore alternative perspectives and get into action.

The Coaching Relationship

The coaching relationship is based on mutual trust and respect and openness and honesty.  The substance and specifics of any coaching session is strictly confidential between the coach and individual.  Ideally, any feedback provided to a company following a coaching session will be provided by the executive rather than the coach.  Any feedback provided by the coach will be general not specific.

Participants will be expected to stay committed to the coaching process by attending sessions and keeping any agreements or commitments they make during the sessions.  In addition, the coach is most effective when participants are open to the potential of coaching. 

That means contributing to the sessions openly and honestly, including giving the coach honest feedback on how the sessions are going and their value to the participant in achieving their objectives.  The coaching sessions will explore, with individuals, their:

• Current circumstances;
• Issues, concerns, aspirations and desires;
• Personal values and beliefs, including self limiting beliefs;
• Areas for development; and
• Well-formed outcomes and clear action plans.

Coaching is a very personal experience.  It is the art of accessing and then improving the performance, learning and development of participants.  This occurs when the individual being coached takes control of their actions and makes the changes required to improve.   This requires significant rapport and trust between the coach and executive.  It is important that the executive and the coach believe that they can work together and this is why an initial introductory session with no fee is offered.

Our Commitment to You

Our aim is to enable you to build new awareness of yourself, others and the world around you, to give you the best possible chance of achieving your outcomes and aspirations.  We achieve this through an appreciative, respectful and constructive process.  We will highlight the patterns of behaviour and thinking that you are demonstrating; help you to assess the usefulness of these patterns and work with you to develop even more effective ways to achieve your outcomes.  In order to do this we will:

• Listen acutely to what you say and what you don’t say;
• Give you absolutely honest feedback;  
• Challenge you constructively when we believe your outcomes may not be met by your current course of action;
• Use appropriate tools / techniques to raise your awareness of yourself and others, in pursuit of your goals;
• Support you through ups and downs; and
• Celebrate your accomplishments.

At the core of our coaching is the belief that you have all the resources you need to have the life and career that you want – the answers come from you.  We are there to help you to bring those out for the benefit of you and your company or organisation.

Your Commitment - to get the most from your coaching

We believe that the more you put in, the more change you will be able to effect – so you will need to bring as much of yourself as you can to the coaching sessions and to be honest and open about what you are learning.  The feedback we give each other will enable more effective and rapid change for you and build your flexibility to meet your outcomes.

Your coaching is a major investment in you.  (Three TLC units per session) to get the most from these sessions you will need to make time to invest in yourself fully by preparing for coaching sessions, using your coach as a resource in and between these sessions and reflecting on and applying your learning as much as you can. 

It is in the doing that you will get your learning ‘in the muscle’ and make it a sustainable resource for yourself.  Any suggested tasks to complete outside of your coaching sessions will be made in this light – completing them will accelerate your development.  It is explicit in our coaching that you are in control of any coaching session.  By this we mean that:

• You bring the agenda that you wish to work on and are responsible for your own learning;
• If you are uncomfortable at any time or wish to change the way the coaching is taking place then inform us straight away; and
• Be honest about what is working for you – this will get the most effective result for you and we will both learn in the process.

Is coaching for you?

Is there an area of your performance you would like to improve?  Are you frustrated with progress?  Do you want to find different ways to achieve your outcomes?  Would you benefit from an outside perspective?  Would you value the opportunity to explore your leadership style and management approach on a one to one basis?  If you answer yes to these questions and you have a clear outcome, are open to feedback and willing to create positive change you would probably benefit from working with an executive coach to support your continued development.

Outcomes from coaching

Outcomes from executive coaching sessions include:

• Improved individual performance and productivity achieved in a shorter time than traditional courses or training;
• Cultural change Personal development and increased self awareness;
• Improved learning;
• Improved relationships;
• Greater flexibility and adaptability to change; and
• Improved quality of life.

Terms of coaching

People & Performance Ltd provides qualified coaches with experience of working at executive level and of coaching executives, who will work with you to achieve the agreed outcomes of the coaching contract. 

Session duration: 2-3 hours

Number of sessions/frequency: Varies- to be agreed at preliminary meeting        

In between coaching sessions, we encourage clients to use phone and email contact with our coaches to support their development process.

The coaching sessions will take place at an agreed location, generally away from the workplace and the timing of the sessions will be agreed on an ongoing basis.  Our coaches work mostly during normal working hours and can agree to work outside of these where appropriate.