Executive Coaching holds a special place in my portfolio of activities. I keep my client base small so that I don’t need to refer to my notes to know exactly what we were talking about last time and what needs to happen next. It also means that I can think about my clients while running on the mountain and wonder about new ways that I can contribute to my clients' success.
Successful executive coaching is built on strong relationships between client and coach. Hence I want to have strong relationships with all I believe coaching can have a strong personal relationship with everyone that I work with. I’ve explored and been trained in many different methodologies and coaching models*. My conclusion is that while they are all very interesting, it is more important to meet my clients where they are rather than bring them to a tool or method that I am familiar with. The tools now fall into the background and inform my work rather than guide it.
My executive coaching work is underpinned by three pillars which inform what I do.
- Positive psychology
I’ve studied and worked with Positive Psychology since 2003, helping my clients to identify their talents and to work with them to be more effective. If there are development areas then we’ll address them from a perspective of using your strengths to develop the areas where you need additional competence. - Life scenarios
This is a term that originated in my masters research and I have I have created a technique for using scenario planning methods with individuals. Scenarios were pioneered in the cold war by Herman Kahn and used by Shell in the 1970’s to outplay their competition. Today you can use scenarios for your life to map a strategic path which embraces uncertainty and gives you a radar screen to identify threats and opportunities. - Brand
People and businesses have brands whether we think about it actively or not. Brands are other people’s perceptions of us. Understanding how we are perceived and thinking about how we would like to be perceived is a useful exercise when working to bring about change in our lives.
If you are thinking about studying to be a coach then read my article on choosing a coach training school.
- Clem Sunter commenting on Dale Williams’ MA thesis
* Coaching models and approaches
- Spiral Dynamics
- Integral
- Kolb Learning Styles
- GROW
- Enneagram
- Gallup Strengthsfinder
