The Real Science behind Executive Coaching

Executive coaching works towards 2 types of change. Remedial change is where, a person is facing significant challenges, with trouble looming; having plateaued, they are falling behind in their job or under-performing. Generative change is where a person is performing successfully and wants to continue the process of personal and professional development, perhaps in the areas of people management or leadership. Both approaches have the impact of bringing about transformational change. The tools and techniques for this are the same - the focus is different!

The first stage in a coaching programme helps the individual identify the new output or results they want. Following that, it is important to identify the beliefs, attitudes, behaviours and values that stand in the way achieving of these results. Coach and client work in a number of coaching sessions to integrate new beliefs, thinking patterns and attitudes that serve the individual and the organization better.

The goal is always to develop a greater alignment between the employee and the organization so there is a system-wide benefit. There is a huge awareness and learning component to the coaching experience, where the individual is coached into seeing how they are literally "running their own brains" as they perform, communicate, think and take action in working towards their professional goals.

Using NLP and Neurosemantics coaching techniques, it is possible to increase levels of confidence, self-esteem, improve personal relationships and performance significantly and quite rapidly, simply by working with the structure of a person's beliefs, attitudes and thinking and installing better ones.

Ultimately, the purpose of executive coaching is to produce behavioral change and growth in your key people for the economic benefit of your organization. Quality executive coaching must involve behavioural-based coaching for a company to see a solid return on their investment.

A-US based (Business Wire, 2001) survey on the impact of coaching reported significant measurable improvements for executives of between 65-77% in relationships with peers, direct reports, immediate supervisors, team co-operation, job satisfaction and commitment, while the impact on organisations ranged between 48-53% in terms of productivity, quality, organisational strength and staff retention, with a 22% for bottom-line profitability.

A final thought: A person's beliefs are their actions, and anything they are doing or NOT doing is driven by a belief they hold. Sometimes it may be a belief that has long outlived its usefulness - and like your software -it may be time to install some new programs in your organization.

About Shiera O’Brien: Shiera is an expert in sales optimisation. She specialises in sales consulting and training companies in sales and communication strategies to optimise their selling time. She offers training and executive coaching on business networking, communication skills, presenting and selling excellence.  Contact her on +353 (86) 399-6601. Email via the website: http://www.zenithtraining.ie/contact-us.asp for more information.