Types of Executive Coaching:

As noted in the book, 'The Complete Guide to Coaching at Work', the authors (Skiffington and Zeus) have found the following typology of executive coaching to be useful:

Coaching for skills helps the executive learn specific skills, abilities and perspectives over a period of several weeks or months. The skills to be learned are usually clear at the outset and are typically related to skills associated with an executive assuming new or different responsibilities.

Coaching for performance focuses on the executive’s effectiveness in his or her current position. Frequently it involves coaching for one or more management or leadership competencies, such as communicating vision, team building or delegation.

Coaching for development refers to coaching interventions that explore and enhance the executive’s competencies and characteristics required for a future job or role. It can be associated with outplacements, restructuring and reengineering in the organization.

Coaching for the executive’s agenda generally entails working with an executive on any personal or organizational concerns he or she may have. It can focus on issues surrounding the executive, such as change and company downsizing. Personal issues are more likely to arise in this type of coaching.

Executive coaches can also work with training managers to formalize coaching in their leadership roles and become "manager as coach".

Note: Only behavioral change is real change. 
           -The need to create sustainable behaviors (what we do or say)!

Improving business performance often focuses on clearly articulated strategies, definite goals and structural change. However, even the best laid plans for change often fail to address that performance is inseparable from how an organization does what it does. For only if the people in a system behave as they should will the system work as it should. Most systems have the same failing--human behavior. Improved performance is impossible without changing behaviors. If we want to change and improve systems, we have to change human behavior. But human behavior is not so easily changed and most behavioral change efforts fail.

Note: There are Two Types of Change: 
1. Process/Procedural Change:
The main success factor to the introduction of a new initiative, new process or the creation of new structures or teams, is the effective long-term change of people’s behaviors.

2. Personal and/or Organizational Performance or Developmental Change:
The central critical success factor for any personal, group or cultural change initiative is the effective long-term change of people’s behaviors.

Some Coaching Case Studies:

CASE STUDY 1.- TRAIN THE INTERNAL ORG. COACH PROGRAM

This Coaching Program was developed to address a Defence Forces Training Department's specific needs.

The Trainers teach over a thousand personnel a year. The focus of the program was to certify the trainers as coaches and thereby: increase the effectiveness of their training methods by enhancing the delivery and retention of the subject matter - be it soft skills or technical information, improve their ability to establish rapport, trust and credibility and improve their ability to adapt their teaching style to the students learning styles thus enabling their students to easily apply the newly learnt information.

All the participants were assessed giving them an understanding of their own unique learning, communication, problem-solving and teaching styles (which was used as a basis for them to develop even more flexible teaching styles).

The tailored program, conducted over 3 months, used a combination of distance-learning modules, including pre-study of course manual and set reading material, followed by 4 two-day Intensive Group Workshops and individual follow-up coaching sessions.

CASE STUDY 2. - EXECUTIVE COACHING 

A Coaching program was developed to address a Senior Management Team's specific needs to: be more 'Transformational', 'Emotionally Intelligent' in their leadership style, to improve their behavioral flexibility and improve their cross functional effectiveness. The program was delivered through team workshops addressing common workplace issues and one to one personal developmental coaching sessions focusing on under-performance issues. Results were benchmarked and linked to measurable changes in behavior.

The Assessment instruments provided information on the coachees: Leadership style, Problem-Solving style, Stress levels, and their Emotional Aspects - their strengths and developmental areas.

The program was over a twelve month period starting with a number of one-to-one sessions. The team workshops were followed by one-to-one coaching driven by the needs of the individual coachees.

CASE STUDY 3. - BUSINESS COACHING 

A Customized Development Program for Managers, Senior Doctors and Nurse Managers in a Private Hospital Group.

The program had to take into the account the acute lack of time staff have for position development and an expanding network of new hospitals. The staff identified a need to be more effective in the management and utilization of change, more 'Transformational' in their leadership style and more confident and assertive in their handling of conflict. Emphasis was also placed on the values and culture of the organization as well as skills.

A mix of team workshops, one-to-one coaching and action learning projects were developed. It was agreed that no one within the group should have access to an individual's assessment report. The feedback was facilitated only to the coachee and a self development plan/coaching cycle was agreed to.

Some objectives were to: improve cross functional effectiveness - as a team and individually, develop an awareness of their behavioral style and address areas which may cause them to under-perform, understand the nature of Change and Transition and be able to anticipate and manage both elements proactively and to design a competency framework which reflected the values and ethos of the organization.