AT THE EXECUTIVE’S INITIATIVE
The requirements of shareholders, market constraints, social tensions, media lying in wait, corporate social responsibility and sustainable development, often put the executive in situations of either discomfort, pressure or complexity, such that he/she needs:
- a confidant in a hostile or at best unfamiliar environment
- additional resources in managing a dispute or conflict
- apolitical points of view to support executive decisions
AT THE COMPANY’S INITIATIVE
While preparing its strategy and planning for the future, management wants to show a key manager that the company invests in him/her to:
- support a good integration (on-boarding) into a new position
- prepare a succession candidate for promotion
- accelerate the merger of two cultures
- to manage the side effects of success or poor performance
- create the best possible mindset to ensure the success of an expatriation
- facilitate the support for major new systems or procedures
SIGNS OF WARNING
Daily news reports, reorganizations or performance evaluations at times can lead an executive to note that he/she, or one of his/her staff members:
- is no longer a key actor in problem-solving in the day-to-day business
- lacks reflex in foreseeing warnings, or when challenges appear
- is isolated from peers
- encounters difficulties in resolving an interpersonal relationship crisis
- re-interprets or modifies the objectives or timetables which were agreed
- experiences discomfort with a promotion from an expert/specialist function to one of management
- becomes disoriented when a change within the company occurs
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Coaching is a voluntary step – it is not imposed.
Stakes are identified and formalized; the duration is pre-defined; results are tracked.
Objectives can consist of correcting and improving specific situations or behaviors. Overall goals can be constructive and concrete, or creative and more open-ended.
Coaching is reassuring and enjoyable; it leads to progress and self-development.
While the Coach is outside the company, he has experience of real-life business situations.
Coaching does not represent a gesture of compensation: it is not in lieu of a promotion, or a complement to fixed or specific remuneration. It is an encouragement, a proof of trust and a tangible sign of investment in one’s future.
Coaching helps the executive to preserve work/life balance, to find breathing space, to regain serenity.