Leadership Development
As we look into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.
— Bill Gates
do you have questions?
“We’re expanding, and I’m relying on my leaders to step it up, to think more strategically, to be able to influence and bring along others. How do we make this happen?”
“A manager’s struggle with his leadership role is taking a toll on his subordinates. I’ve given him feedback, and while he’s made adjustments, he needs more intensive help than I can provide.”
“We are initiating a corporate coaching program and need a practitioner who can competently handle our assessment tools and will align performance development with company strategy.”
Sound familiar? Regardless of size and focus, organizations face common leadership and management challenges. Viewed as remedial in the past, executive coaching is now considered to be a highly effective vehicle for supporting rising leaders. The goal of an executive coaching contract is to develop a leader’s core competencies and capability to achieve short- and long-term goals. Coaching allows leaders to improve their performance, skills, and behaviors “on the job.”
Dorsett OD offers the following executive coaching services:
- Executive Coaching Engagement – standard contracts run for 6 – 12 months
- 360 Debrief & Action Planning – a single post-assessment session focused on processing and a development plan
- Retirement Coaching – a non-financial, assessment tool-driven process aimed at facilitating decision-making for an individual who has been offered a retirement package
Leadership and Management Focus Areas May Include:
- Emotional intelligence
- Insight and awareness
- Effective communication skills
- Strategic thinking
- Controlling micromanagement
- Relationship coaching
- Subordinate influence and motivation
- Personal effectiveness and goal setting
An Executive Coaching Engagement Typically Involves:
- A complimentary meeting to establish client needs
- Contracting for an engagement generally lasts for 6 – 12 months with coaching sessions taking place every other week for 1 – 2 hours
- A feedback report involving performance reviews and additional measures such as 360-Degree Feedback
- An initial session devoted to debriefing assessment report, processing and interpreting the feedback, setting goals aimed at aligning behavior with organizational strategy, and creating a developmental action plan.
- Continual goal adjustment, deadlines and performance feedback from key employees to support accountability.
A 360 Degree Assessment Debriefing and Action Planning Session Typically Involves:
- Assignment of the coach by the OD/HR department which has already conducted a 360 degree or other assessment(s)
- Debriefing assessment report, processing and interpreting the feedback
- Setting goals aimed at aligning behavior with organizational strategy
- Creating a developmental action plan
Retirement Coaching Engagement Typically Involves:
- The individual will complete an assessment (the LOP) and meet with the coach for an initial debriefing session. At least two additional sessions are recommended.
See my Dynamic Retirement page >>
How to Choose the Right Coach
In this unregulated field of coaching, there are many things to consider when choosing your coach.
- The first is chemistry. A coach will offer a complimentary session to help determine whether there is a fit.
- The executive coach should be capable of considering the layers of the organizational system in which the individual works rather than viewing the coachee through the narrow lens of one methodology or assessment tool.
- The coach should be capable of understanding the complexity of your organizational structure and culture, and have the strategy and agenda of the organization in mind rather than his or her own.
- A coach is not a psychotherapist. He or she is not hired to analyze the past or heal emotional issues, but rather to help the executive take current action and plan future goals.
- The coach is not the executive’s new best friend and should not create dependence.
- A coach should be curious, insightful, a good listener, objective and trustworthy. Being supportive should be balanced with being challenging.
“Sharon provided executive coaching for me during a time of great transition at my organization. Her support helped give me the courage and tools I needed to try new ways of responding and communicating – both of which led me to the positive outcomes I hoped for. …Sharon is a systems thinker who brings out individual’s abilities for making positive change happen.”
— Shannon Nichols,
Maine Women’s Fund
“I am a senior manager who was feeling increasingly stuck in my current job and needed a fresh perspective on where I was and help moving towards my next goal of becoming a chief executive.
The time I spent with Sharon as my coach was hugely productive. I gained greater clarity about the issues I was facing and insight into how to move things forward in my career plans while gaining a new perspective and enthusiasm for the job I was in. Sharon is sharp, businesslike, has genuine insight and can be challenging without being overbearing. She gave me space and time to think about myself and provoked me into crystalizing my own solutions without ever feeling selfish or self-conscious.”
— Phil Newby, Director,
Local Government, U.K.