Executive Coaching – What to Expect and the Benefits!

The benefits of executive coaching

Executive Coaching – What to Expect and the Benefits!

One of the core objectives of any organisation must be to enhance productivity and efficiency. To successfully achieve this, strong leadership is vital. It’s for this very reason that many firms are increasingly adopting executive coaching and leadership development initiatives. While some deploy internal mechanisms, most leverage the expertise and services of external leadership consultants and coaches.

Why is this and what exactly are the benefits of executive coaching? Over many years of executive coaching and consulting, this question has been among the most commonly posed to me. I have been pleased to be able to respond that many of the clients who have experienced our executive coaching program have communicated the enormous help that such a program has provided, in assisting them to improve their leadership skills, their effectiveness and efficiency, and their position and prospects in their respective organisations.

It’s important to highlight that while many of the benefits of executive coaching are largely intangible, the value to organisations is extremely tangible. A recent study conducted by research firm MetrixGlobal for a Fortune 500 company identified a 529% return on investment, among other intangible benefits. That’s quite a remarkable figure!

The following sections discuss just three of the many benefits that arise from a professionally delivered leadership coaching program.

Resilience building via executive coaching

It’s easy to get lost in the Google age where all you need to do is look up a few leadership-related terms and be on your way to a million blogs and tips about leadership. What many of these resources discount, however, is the importance of building resilience.

Resilience is an attribute that is valuable across any aspect of life – not just in the workplace. Much like in life, organisations and teams go through periods (sometimes lengthy) of great difficulty that demand the most from their employees and staff. The ability to take hits, stand firm and overcome difficult times is what separates ordinary organisations from extraordinary ones.

Executive coaching allows individuals to participate in situational exercises that force them to engage in various challenging situations, navigate them and, eventually, overcome them. This level of preparation allows individuals at all levels to develop into leaders who are equipped with the skills to overcome great challenges. A more resilient workforce means employees who are better equipped to persevere through difficult times and drive greater organisational success.

Inspiring leaders of tomorrow

Building on the topic of forging resilience, it’s important to pay attention to the value your employees and staff of today will have in the future. After all, as an organisation grows, so must its people. That’s why it’s so important for all organisations to continuously find ways of inspiring employees to exceed expectations and take up leadership-driven initiatives. An organisation’s best leaders will always be the ones that are inspired to drive the organisation’s vision and strategies by leading their peers – irrespective of their function.

Executive coaching programs allow participants to reset and adjust their objectives, set new targets, and track the progression of their goals over time, in an organised and feedback-driven setting. By setting up an action plan around these predetermined goals, participants have a platform they can refer to and revisit regularly. Executive coaching provides a structured approach that allows individuals to draw inspiration as each objective is met, encouraging them to replicate similar approaches with their peers and the employees they manage.

Learning the value of empathy

A recent article by Rae Shanahan from businesssolver, an American-based technology firm, really stood out to me – she cited a Gallup poll that estimated that disengaged employees cost businesses (in the US) approximately $600 billion in productivity. Shanahan linked this staggering statistic to the fact that 85% of employees believe that empathy is undervalued in their organisation.

While this statistic is focused on the US workforce, challenges of employee engagement are very much prevalent here in Australia as well. But why is something as intangible and unquantifiable as empathy pertinent to this situation? The empathy between organisations and their employees, and among employees themselves, results in greater productivity, efficiency and commitment to the organisation’s success. Instead of operating in an antagonistic environment, an empathetic organisational environment results in employees feeling more empowered and true to themselves.

On that note, it’s important to highlight that empathy is a cornerstone of executive coaching. By forcing participants to place themselves in alternative situations, perhaps those that their peers or staff members may be encountering, executive coaching fosters an environment where leaders can better understand one another’s circumstances – resulting in collective advancement and growth.

If you’d like more information about executive coaching and our services, feel free to visit our website or contact us for more information!