Executive Coaching FAQs

"A productive coaching relationship begins with two people with fires in their bellies: one who wants desperately to move forward and another who yearns to help that person make the journey. Coaching is destined to be the leadership approach of the twenty-first century."

-- James Belasco in the book, "Coaching for Leadership"

Why Are So Many Companies Using Coaching as a Strategic Initiative?

The Bottom Line. Studies on coaching report an ROI of 5 to 7 times the initial investment¹. Business unit leaders see extraordinary results achieved by their peers and ask "What caused that?" only to find out that coaching is the key differentiator. For more research on the impact of coaching in organizations, see Executive Coaching Research.
Learning that Leads to Behavioral Change. Coaching can be customized to address individual needs, with week-to-week support and opportunities to integrate learning into real life work experiences. This is in contrast to "one size fits all" training programs where the learning is forgotten in three months if it is not supported. Coaching sessions accelerate and focus on-the-job learning by providing a place to reflect in the middle of "the muck."

"When a leadership training initiative is followed by one-on-one coaching, phenomenal results can be achieved… Organizations…expect managers to apply what they learned [in training] …with their direct reports. And yet, that is too big a leap for most managers because they have not yet integrated their learnings into their personal behavior repertoire. …They …become frustrated with their success rate in applying what they have learned. The interim missing step is a one-on-one coaching relationship where they can solidify and personalize what they have learned before using it with their people.

-- Ken Blanchard, Co-Author, The One Minute Manager

Develop Leaders. Do you have a scarcity of leaders who can take your business to the next level? Coaching provides leaders with the support to overcome challenges and reach stretch goals. It increases confidence and builds relationship skills. In a study of 100 executives from Fortune 1000 companies who received coaching for 6-12 months, executives reported improved working relationships with direct reports, immediate supervisors, peers, and customers.
Transform Culture. Leaders and managers who learn coaching skills begin to see new results with their staff. The old way of doing things is no longer appealing. And the culture associated with the old style begins to transform into a more empowering culture. Companies such as Sysco and IBM are seeing the shift in culture as a result of managers learning coaching skills.

"[Executives should seek coaching] when they feel that a change in behavior-either for themselves or their team members-can make a significant difference in the long-term success of the organization."

-- Marshall Goldsmith, Fast Company columnist and one of Forbes' five most respected executive coaches.

Who Uses Executive Coaching?

Leaders who want to have a bigger impact on their organization
Strategic thinkers in companies who see the need to develop not only a deeper bench but also a different kind of bench-one with transformational leaders.
HR professionals who want to ensure their investment in leadership training pays off and who see coaching as a complement to other performance enhancement programs.
Small biz owners ready to take their company to the next level.

How Are We Different From Other Companies Providing Coaching Services?

Our coaches have a unique combination of deep business experience, systems thinking and specific coach training. We artfully mix organization development consulting and executive coaching. Clients get the benefit of standard assessments like MBTI, DiSC, and EQ, a toolkit that includes change management, polarity management, and appreciative inquiry, and the experience of our work inside companies, from small to large.
We specialize in tapping into the right brain to increase the power of left brain thinking-applying whole brain thinking. Bringing out creativity and developing intuition in our clients helps them understand complex problems, build commitment, and find new answers. From there, analytical thinkers can develop methods to track and manage ongoing dilemmas or develop solutions. Daniel Pink, a leading thinker on work, business and economic transformation and the author of A Whole New Mind explains: "The left hemisphere [of the brain] is logical, sequential, analytical and rational. The right hemisphere is holistic and is more about synthesis than analysis; it is about context rather than text. The abilities that used to get you ahead were more characteristic of the left hemisphere of the brain and the abilities that matter the most now are more characteristic of the right hemisphere of the brain."

"Carol has an uncanny ability to probe in just the right areas to get to the core of a situation. She does not provide the answers to complex organizational issues. Instead, her ability to ask the right questions brings clarity and guides the organization in identifying their own answers."

-- Sheryl Shafer, President, Board of Directors for a Public Charter School

Ready to see how coaching can increase your bottom line? Let's start talking. Contact us for a complimentary consultation and we’ll send you a report on "Getting Started with Executive Coaching".

¹Source: Manchester, "Executive Coaching Yields Return on Investment of Almost Six Times Its Costs" , January 4, 2001. MetrixGlobal, "Executive Briefing: Case Study on The Return Investment of Executive Coaching," November 2, 2001.