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Executive Coaching |
Executive Coaching
We all construct our lives and our careers in accordance with our personalities, our values and attitudes, fantasies and dreams. Chief executives are not an exception. They, too, build on something they have, aspire to something they don?t, and try to prove a point to themselves or their significant others. Consciously or unconsciously, an executive is engaged in a permanent dialogue — with self, with competitor and with luck. Career, professional and personal accomplishments — everything is used as an argument in the dialogue, often passionate and intense. And there, in the dialogue, a lot is at stake — more than personal success, the success of the entire enterprise he or she is heading may depend on how the dialogue proceeds, on his or her position and understanding of psychological mechanisms that drive his or her actions. Many people think that becoming an executive is all about luck. As we deal with executives of various organizations, we have come to realize that first and foremost it is about hard work. Unlike most of their subordinates, executives have practically no way of getting a well-balanced feedback about their skills and actions. Executives shoulder immense responsibility for the well-being of many people, and are always obliged «to keep face» in front of partners or subordinates. Coaching gives executives an opportunity to see themselves objectively from different sides, to better understand how their actions influence people and situations, tap on hidden inner reserves for future development, and realize their potential to the fullest. Coaching is an interdisciplinary activity between business consulting and psychology. It includes a variety of procedures used for corporate consulting, but what counts most is individual involvement, a developing dialogue with the executive in charge of an organization. Executive coaching focuses on basic values, life-time objectives and ways of attaining them, on successful strategies that help people. The coach, or the consultant, enters the executive's inner «dialogue» as another independent participant adding a new twist to the conversation. In other cases, the consultant truly acts as a coach preparing the executive to «jump the hurdle», that is to tackle a specific task, by helping «the athlete» develop the necessary «muscles» (i.e., competencies). The coach is not part of the client's organization, therefore can be fully objective and mind the executive's interests above all else. Executive coaching is done in specially organized sessions, as well as participant observation of the executive's real-life functions by the consultant.
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