Executive Coaching

There are many scientific studies that corroborate the beneficial impact of executive coaching. Such as the “Executive Coaching: It Works!” from Francis A. Kombarakaran, Julia A. Yang, Mila N. Baker and Pauline B. Fernandes published by the American Psychological Association and the Society of Consulting Psychology in 2008, which reported that the participant executives increased their confidence (72%), maximized their contribution to the company(78%),and stated that the coaching was beneficial to business (86%). They also believed that the time spent on coaching was a good return on investment (73%).  Bill Gates and Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, both believe that “everyone needs a coach”. Google reflected Schmidt’s stance across their culture and now has a Director of Executive Coaching and Leadership on staff.

As well as top performing athletes, business leaders need coaches. Not only to perfect existing, or acquire new, skills but more importantly to help them increase their self-awareness of strengths, weaknesses and biases. to pursue a 360-degree view on the decisions, opportunities and challenges at hand, to achieve a satisfying balance on their personal and working life. Focusing more on effectiveness, rather than efficiency, the coach helps the leader to grow, to improve the quality of his/her decisions, to adopt new and more powerful habits, to build more effective relationships, and through that to achieve better results.

An effective executive coach knows how to take a business leader through a process of discovery and skill development, asking questions to lead him, or her, to their desired achievements. Generally, effective coaches can demonstrate that they have significant experience running businesses successfully. Effective coaches seek a path to excellence in the relationship with their coachees, which often take them into becoming executive mentors as well.