What Does an Executive Coach Do?

by Howard Shore, Date: Sep 01, 2015

What Does an Executive Coach Do?

An Executive Coach Helps You Write Your Business Story

Do you ever wonder what an executive coach does? I get this question all the time. An executive coach’s job is to help you write your story. What do I mean by this? Whether you want to improve your business, career, or personal circumstances, the executive coach’s role is to provide a forum and process to help you maximize your potential. In other words, as your story is unfolding, your coach’s job is to help you to write your best story, a great story. It is important that you work with someone that will help keep bias out of your story creation. Your story starts today, and you want to have unlimited possibilities. During your story you will gain new wisdom and will need course corrections. Everyone’s story has surprises, and your coach is there to help you through and to stay accountable as you reach your full potential!

The Roles of Executive Coaching:

  • Improve leadership skills and effectiveness
  • Improve your ability to positively influence others
  • Improve the likelihood of new managers being successful
  • Increase employee engagement
  • Improve relationships in business and your personal life
  • Create higher levels of self-confidence
  • Increase self-awareness

A Good Executive Coach Enters Your Story Without Bias

Your coaching relationship is one where you are given space to create. A good executive coach enters your story without bias. They are not there to judge you, do not have expectations of you, and their only stake in the outcome is helping you achieve the goals of the engagement. While most everyone else in your life has good intentions they usually also have bias. This bias causes them to consciously or unconsciously steer you in a direction that may not be in your best interests. Here are some examples:

  • They may try to protect you by guiding you down safer paths because that is where their life choices have taken them.
  • They may suggest a different path because they think you are not capable of traveling the ideal path.
  • They may steer you in a different direction because of selfish motives. You will find even your closest colleagues to be selfish.

An Executive Coach Allows You to Realize Your Full Potential

An executive coaching relationship brings you a blank canvas to work with. This does not mean you need or want to start over. It just means you should consider that your business, career, or personal circumstances should be whatever you want it to be. People mistakenly start from where they are rather than where they want to be. This thought process will always limit your possibilities. This is why working with people that know you well can be so limiting.

So if you story starts today, think of your possibilities. With the wisdom you have today, what you want your business to look like? What would you want your career to look like? How would you like your personal story to unfold? As your executive coach helps you write your story, they will first help you create a clear picture of what you want that story to be. This is hard work because it is not always easy to articulate and define what is you want. This may take some time and need to be refined over time.

Closing the Gap Between Where You Are and Where You Ought to Be

Once you have developed a clear picture of your story, you need to create an action plan. The action plan looks at long- and short-term objectives that need to be attained in order for your story to unfold. You do this by identifying the gap between where you are and where you capable of being. Your executive coach will help develop a series of 90-day goals that help lead you to reach your full potential.

Like any worthy story, you will encounter surprises and obstacles. Your executive coach is there to help you work through these challenges. They help you identify the midcourse corrections that are needed and help you stay accountable to your lofty goals.

Hiring an Executive Coach

Call Howard Shore, one of the top executive coaches in the United States, for a FREE consultation at [phone link=”true”] or contact Activate Group today to see how an executive business coach can help you run a more effective business and become a more effective leader.