Executive coaching is a powerful and rewarding tool for improving the performance of executives and their organizations, and is likely worth the investment. Over the past 15 years, it has become increasingly popular to hire coaches for up-and-coming executives. These coaches come from a variety of backgrounds, including psychology, athletics, law, business academics, and consulting. When done correctly, executive coaching can have a positive impact on an executive's performance in many areas. However, if done incorrectly, it can do more harm than good.
Without safeguards in place to ensure that coaches are not training people whose issues are not due to lack of skills but to psychological problems, both the executive and their organization can suffer. The best results come from a coach with extensive knowledge and experience in organizational behavior and rigorous psychological training. A professional coach or executive can provide unbiased and confidential advice from the perspective of someone who understands the complexities of the workforce. This can help reduce stress and frustration levels, be present in the moment, quiet the mind, and relax so that you can have a more effective training session. Talking and strategizing with an executive coach can bring clarity to problems and discover new approaches that yield results, which in turn increases motivation. Coaches who have been athletes and continue to practice vigorous exercise can help you connect your mind and body through high or low intensity movements.
Even when coaches take a more empirically validated approach than McNulty's, they tend to fall into the trap of treating the symptoms rather than the disorder. Coaching objectives are generally established at the beginning of a coaching engagement, and once those objectives are met, the coaching relationship is completed. There are many unexpected or surprising benefits that make investing in coaching worthwhile. One such benefit is an increase in emotional intelligence which provides a more flexible mentality and a greater capacity for creative thinking when it comes to making decisions and solving problems, making coaching clients more resilient, especially during organizational changes. If any of these situations sound confusing to you, it might be worth hiring an executive coach for you or your team. A coach with rigorous psychological training will produce the best results.
Relationship training can act as a sounding board, and good professional training will help you see the big picture.
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