If you’re a high-achiever in charge of making business decisions at your organization — you might be in middle management, the head of your department, or even the company CEO — then you may already be familiar with the concept of an executive coach. You might even have ideas about what an executive coach does. Despite this, there are still many misconceptions about the role an executive coach plays in helping you achieve your career goals.
What do executive coaches do? Who are they meant for? And how exactly do they provide support? Keep reading to learn more about the role of an executive coach and how they can help you further develop your career path.
What is executive coaching?
Executive coaching is the process of helping highly driven leaders and entrepreneurs overcome personal and professional roadblocks in order to succeed. A great executive coach helps their clients rapidly experience necessary career transformations that would otherwise take many months or years of trial and error to achieve.
The most effective executive coaches rely on a simple principle: as a leader, it is your thinking — the way you process failure, success, struggles and victories — that shapes your ability to achieve what you want. Everything stems from your ability to manifest new ways of thinking that support your goals. By working with an executive coach to become aware of your thoughts, perspectives and beliefs, you’ll have a much easier time visualizing and achieving what you want in life.
Who should hire an executive coach?
Executive coaches are best suited for leaders, entrepreneurs and executives who are constantly looking to tackle new things, but are currently experiencing difficult setbacks.
You might be a C-suite leader having trouble coaching your own team of professionals. Or you could be a restaurant owner drowning in an overwhelming to-do list. You could even be a CEO who is successful in their day job but can’t seem to find time for their partner and children at home. These are all great examples of individuals who could benefit immensely from executive coaching.
The point is that executive coaches are best for people who are already driven, inspired and determined, but are having trouble managing certain aspects of life. At the same time, if you feel you have everything mostly under control — but you want to take your career and personal growth to another level — executive coaching could also be for you.
What can you achieve with executive coaching?
Executive coaching can help leaders reach countless new heights. Whether your goals are professional or personal, an executive coach can help clear the roadblocks in your life and help you succeed accordingly. Specifically, hiring an executive coach can help you:
- Shift your thinking: An executive coach will help you understand that your thought patterns are the key to helping you achieve better outcomes. By clearing away limiting thoughts and allowing you to see the impact of your thinking, you’ll be able to push past setbacks and soar effortlessly toward the results you want.
- Get the work you want out of your team: It can be hard to manage a team. An executive coach will help you effectively manage your team while simultaneously teaching you how to push them to consistently deliver great work.
- Become a greater inspiration to those around you: Leaders need to be inspirational. Otherwise, companies falter, dreams fade, and great work becomes dull and uninspired. An executive coach will show you how to impact those around you, giving you the tools to share your visions with clarity and confidence.
- Enjoy your professional and personal life: A great career should not come at the cost of a sagging personal life. Executive coaches can help you manage the responsibilities of a high-profile position while also being an engaged family member, friend and presence among those in your personal life.
What does a typical executive coaching process look like?
While there are many different types of executive coaching programs, the example here is taken from Frame of Mind Coaching™, as it covers all aspects of a strong coaching process:
- The coaching process begins with 10 weeks
- You will have 10 coaching calls — one each week — with your coach
- You will journal every day in an interactive, online journal with your coach
- You will be in contact with your coach every single day
The frequency and duration of contact during an executive coaching program is extremely important so that your coach can understand you, your thought patterns, your leadership style and your blind spots. By maintaining daily contact with your executive coach, you’ll be able to form a coaching relationship that is trusting, open, non-judgmental and transparent. Through this connection, you will start seeing results and discovering new things about yourself that you had previously never known.
What is the ROI of executive coaching?
Executive coaching offers a host of measurable benefits. Studies show that companies that engage in executive coaching receive an average return of almost $8 for every $1 spent on a coach. That comes along with an ROI of 529%, a post-coaching productivity boost of 86%, and a full return of over $100,000 for each coach hired.
How do you know if you have hired the right executive coach?
Finding the right executive coach is a little bit like looking for a great partner, friend, teacher or therapist — not every coach is right for each person. Contrary to popular belief, however, a great executive coach does not necessarily need to have personal experience in your specific position to provide you with great insights. If you are a CEO of a major company, your coach does not need to be a former CEO of a similarly sized organization. In fact, some ex-company leaders do end up retiring and serving as “coaches,” but without actual training or experience in coaching, they fail to help current leaders achieve their goals.
More important than a shared job title is the overall experience, outlook and perspective of the coach you sign on with. A great coach brings new ideas, thoughts and ways of looking at your unique career profile and life circumstances. The best executive coaches engage in holistic coaching efforts, looking at not just your professional life, but also your personal life, to diagnose issues and clear them out of your way.
