Have you ever been in a position where you simply cannot seem to move ahead into a desired position within your corporate environment? No matter what you do, either your own behaviour, your own feelings or actions seem to sabotage the direction you would like to go. Or is it that you simply are unsure of where you ultimately want to end up. It could simply be that you are unsure or unaware of the next steps. Or are you achieving everything you want to, but in a time frame that is far slower than you would like? All of these situations lend themselves perfectly to undertaking a series of corporate executive coaching sessions. Executive coaching is a series of coaching sessions designed to move the executive forward to a final outcome of their choice. Sounds simple doesn’t it? This is why many people underestimate the power of executive coaching. They feel if this is what executive coaching is, surely I can do that by myself and save myself the time and money required to hire a coach. But although this explanation is a succinct summary of executive coaching, it certainly does not explain all that executive coaching entails.

Executive coaching is a self-driven process. Even though an executive coach is hired who determines the structure of the coaching sessions, their involvement in the coaching process is one of passive guidance where they help the executive determine what it is they want to achieve from the process and to support them in discovering for themselves the steps and attitudes required to achieve those goals. The role of the executive on the other hand is to be honest with the executive coach and themselves, willing to be open minded to new ideas and prepared to take responsibility for their actions.

Ultimately the coach does very little – but the little they do is very difficult. The responsibilities of the coach include:

1. Setting up and maintaining the structure of the coaching course and the coaching sessions. The coaching sessions provide the structure for executive coaching and it is the responsibility of the coach to keep the focus of the coaching upon the subject of that session.
2. Creating an atmosphere of trust – obviously, if the executive coaching client does not trust their coach, they will not feel comfortable enough to reveal their thoughts and feeling to the degree necessary for the coach to guide them. When coaching executives, coaches use many techniques to achieve this. One of the most powerful is to assume nothing and ask permission before addressing any situation.
3. Providing a sounding board for the executive. The coaches responsibility is to listen to exactly what the executive coaching client is saying about their situation and to ask questions based on that information in an effort to draw an insight from the client that they can then base a strategy on.
4. Hold the executive accountable for the choices and actions they commit to. It’s important that the coach is able to do this. It is only while the executive is prepared to take responsibility for their actions or lack of action during the coaching series that they will move forward. The moment they blame their circumstances for a lack action, they will remain stuck in those circumstances.
5. Challenge the beliefs and self perceived limitations. Most problems come from our belief system and our perceptions about ourselves. It is important to have these challenged so that we can become aware of other possibilities and possible beliefs.
6. To hold no agenda. This is possibly the most difficult of all of the responsibilities of the coach. Usually when people are placed in a position to help another person (the executive) with their problems or desires, the helping person’s opinions will come to the fore. Those opinions are often based on their own beliefs, circumstances and understanding of a given situation and not on the executive’s beliefs, circumstances and understanding of their own situation. Then of course if the executive doesn’t agree, the person helping will find himself or herself in a position where they feel the need to justify their opinion.

The coach on the other hand must enter the coaching sessions with the intention of helping the executive come to their own conclusions about their own situation without pushing their own beliefs onto the executive. To do this, they must put their own opinions, assumptions and agenda aside and concentrate wholly on what they are told by the executive.

Coaching is often used as a form of executive education and deemed a necessary part of executive development and executive leadership. Through being coached themselves by executive coaches, not only do executives further their own goals, but they also gain coaching skills that can be used in furthering their own staffs’ careers. Particular areas of executive coaching include executive business coaching, executive leadership coaching and executive careers coaching. In fact due to the personal nature of coaching, it can often take the form of life coaching as it often the personal aspects of an executive’s life that can hinder their corporate growth. As such, executive life coaching is becoming more popular. Because of the important nature of this form of coaching, only coaches with executive coaching certification are given the opportunity to provide corporate executive coaching.