Executive Coaching
Picture by Nik Macmillan
Most successful people have had a coach by their side. They would also agree that one of the best decisions they have made in order to be happier and win has been to integrate this executive coaching into their day-to-day lives. Bill Gates, Oprah and Eric Schmidt are some of the many examples of successful people who attribute a significant part of their success to the lessons and experiences they had by having a coach.
Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, believes that everyone needs coaching. As he said: "Everyone needs a coach. We all need people who give us feedback. That is how we improve."
What is Executive Coaching?
In every good coaching arrangement, there is a deep dive into self-awareness looking at strengths, weaknesses and positive potential of humans. In Executive Coaching there is a big element of receiving feedback, but it is so much more than that. Executive Coaching is an efficient, high impact process that helps people and performance, particularly individuals in leadership roles, improve results in ways that are sustainable over time (Huris, 2018, par. 1).
What does executive coaching look like? Meeting one-on-one, the executive coach provides a safe, structured, and trustworthy environment in which to offer support for the individual. The coach also helps the leader understand their current competencies, see how they are perceived by others, and focus on identifying and clarifying current goals as well as the appropriate action steps to reach those goals. (ATD, 2019, par. 2).
The former CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt, initially believed that he did not need executive coaching. When he was advised to have a coach, his response was: "I don’t need a coach, I am an established CEO. Why would I need a coach? Is there something wrong with me?"
Some people could have misconceived ideas of what coaching is and what it is not.
Executive Coaching involves:
○ Gathering and giving feedback
○ Identifying development opportunities
○ Building awareness
○ Facilitating solutions by asking powerful questions
○ Setting goals and creating action plans
○ Facilitating learning
○ Supporting and encouraging over the long term
○ Monitoring progress and holding others accountable (Zucker, par.2)
Executive Coaching is not:
○ Telling, teaching, or giving advice
○ Counselling, therapy, or consulting
○ Correcting mistakes
○ Managing performance
○ Solely focused on fixing problem behaviours
○ Mentoring (Zucker, par.3)
Eric Schmidt, eventually, overcame his “resistance” mindset and took the advice of engaging with an executive coach. He then realised, “Everybody needs a coach. The one thing that people are never good at is seeing themselves as others see them. A coach really, really helps.”
How FELIZ Consulting May be Able to Help You?
Are you curious about the possibilities of your future success, or to develop your full potential? Maybe you need someone reliable to help you find a different perspective? Or would you like to explore new ways of doing things and making decisions?
It’s inspiring to see how Oprah, CEO of Harpo Productions and Oprah Winfrey Network, believes in the power of coaching. She said: "Coaching helps you stop the crazy mind chatter in your head that tells you all the time that you're not good enough."
Not all of us have these thoughts, of course, or hopefully not all the time but FELIZ Consulting can help you clarify and reach your goals, from where you are right now to the place where you want to be.
We are glad to say that we provide customized and valuable executive coaching services in Hong Kong and across the Asia-Pacific region. We are one of the top boutique corporate training and coaching companies in the region. We are well recognized by top clients, especially in the legal and financial industry.
If you would like to have an overview of our work, including executive coaching, how it helps and continues to help other successful leaders, please check out some of the testimonials.