What Business Problems Can an Executive Coach help Solve?

As an investor, employee, or user, would you root for Microsoft under Nadella or Twitter under Musk? 

Oops, did we start on a controversial note??? Well, that was intentional!

The question reminds us more than ever that organizations are all about their top leadership. You need capable, sensible, stable leaders to see your business through the sluggish economy, changing employee dynamics, supply chain disruption, pandemics, and myriad other factors. Executive coaching can equip your leaders with the right mindset and strategic thinking skills to accelerate your business goals. 

International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.

An executive coach typically works with CXOs (soon-to-be/current), VPs, founders, entrepreneurs, and high-potential leaders to achieve goals, both organizational and/or personal. 

Leaders select executive coaches to be their thinking partners, non-judgemental safe sounding board, accountability partners, cheerleaders, and critics. Many leaders also select executive coaches to challenge them because coaches can give feedback that others shy away from. 

Organizations also hire executive coaches to help leaders evolve into CXO roles. 

Executive coaching India is an incredibly empowering process that drives transformation from within. Executive coaching produces a sustained behavioral change that helps leaders adopt a leadership mindset. Resilience, flexibility, conflict management, quick and right decision-making, etc., are all part of it. This shift accelerates business performance for the organization. Executive coaching enabled Sathya Nadella to transform Microsoft’s fortunes.

Therefore, executive coaching India is meant for leaders open to working on themselves committedly to better themselves and their organizations.

To know more about when and why organizations and leaders hire executive coaches, read our insightful blog, Six Triggers that Spell ‘I Need Executive Coaching’.

1) Clarify the organization’s vision & goals

Executive coaches challenge leaders or founders to identify limiting beliefs when setting up or clarifying the organization’s vision and mission. They also help get rid of such beliefs. 

Executive coaches also ensure the vision is aligned with organizational values and create SMART goals oriented to that vision. 

Executive coaches  inspire leaders to push boundaries and set BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) 

2) Give objective 360-degree performance review for CXOs

As you get to the top, your visibility to others increases, but your self-visibility reduces. Many leaders sabotage their businesses due to this blindness. Adam Neumann & WeWork, John Schnatter & Papa John, the list goes on. So CXOs must get accurate, critical feedback at the right time. An executive coach, as an equal & an external party without vested interests, can best show CXOs the mirror. Coaches collect & share observations about how the leader is viewed by those above and below them in the hierarchy.

3) Scale up businesses

Scaling and growing requires first letting go of old mindsets and adopting new behaviors. Strategies and behaviors that served you when you were a one crore company may not suit you as a five crore company. Executive coaches help leaders to develop vision and strategies as per requirement. They also fine-tune a leader’s ability to zoom in & out and view things from the organization’s perspective. 

A leader who wanted to scale but found it difficult approached Madhu. Coaching conversations revealed that the main challenge was the leader’s limiting mindset that scaling requires money. Madhu helped widen the client’s perspective to look at other aspects that could be used to scale up.  Thus he helped the client move from a mindset of ‘I don’t have’ to ‘ I have’. This shift in thinking enabled the leader to scale up his business.

4) Navigate critical internal & external stakeholder relationships

Business thrives on the right networking. Leaders can use executive coaches to develop good people skills to handle large internal teams and close client deals. 

Executive coaches can be invaluable during mergers and acquisitions. They help leaders manage power shifting and sharing, company culture change, and stakeholder relationships with the right mindset.

Madhu shares a coaching experience with a company founder struggling to settle in after a merger. The client found it difficult to work with his co-founder, who had a different set of values & working style. Madhu helped the leader discover the root of the problem – the client was not used to sharing control, which led to power tussles & ego clashes. From there, they worked together to build an accommodating mindset that focused on the benefits to the organization. Madhu enabled him to look at alternative ways to handle delicate issues.

5) Develop leadership & executive presence

The key to successful leadership is influence, not authority.” – Kenneth H. Blanchard

Leadership presence is a leader’s aura of influence that can motivate employees, inspire confidence in clients, build a brand and sustain a legacy. Executive coaching makes leaders more self-aware, authentic, and value-centric and enables them to operate from this state of awareness.

Executive presence or persona refers to the more physically visible aspects of leadership presence, which includes physical grooming and appearance, social and communication skills, and societal etiquette. Executive coaches can help leaders develop their executive persona too.

6) Develop the leadership pipeline

 Executive coaches are hired to groom next-in-line leaders and evolve them to be ready for CXO roles. Why hire executive coaches for this? While mentors can hone professional competency, executive coaches go deeper to develop the leadership mindset. Executive coaching increases self-awareness which helps leaders realize their strengths and weaknesses and work on them. Executive coaching roots out limiting beliefs and nurtures empowering beliefs. Executive coaches also help them develop executive & leadership persona.

7) Cultivate a healthy company culture

Business performance accelerates when employees are motivated and happy. Executive coaches aid in developing holistic, enlightened leaders who set healthy company culture within their organizations. This can reduce attrition and improve employee engagement.

Innumerable executive coaches offer services online and offline. How do you select the right executive coach to gain maximum RoI from the executive coaching engagement? 

Here are some things to keep in mind while selecting an executive coach.

1)  Choose ICF credentialed & certified executive coaches –

First step – without a shred of doubt, has to be to select an ICF Credentialed Executive Coach. Executive coaching requires a process and code of ethics in which ICF-credentialed coaches are trained and experienced. You can get maximum RoI from a coaching engagement when this process and ethics are followed in letter and spirit. So it would not only be prudent but wise to select ICF executive coaches above others. 

2) Select an executive coach your leader is comfortable with –

The coaching process is based on trust and compatibility between coach and client. A chemistry session with the executive coach can verify this.

3) Check the RoI of the executive coaching engagement. –

A typical executive coaching engagement ranges from six months to a year. Choose an executive coach or an executive coaching Indian firm whose RoI fits your budget.

We have covered more considerations at length to help you choose the right executive coach in our blog – Some Critical Questions You Must Ask When Selecting an Executive Coach.

Benefits of executive coaching for leaders

• Executive coaching helps leaders become authentic, empathetic, and competent, thus elevating their leadership presence.
• Executive coaching allows leaders to leverage their strengths to enhance performance.
• Executive coaching is transformational. It leads to the holistic development of leaders. Though the objective of executive coaching may be professional, personal goals also get achieved, and personal issues or problems get resolved.

For more benefits, look up 11 Benefits of Executive Coaching.

To learn how coaching benefits organizations, go through our blog 

Top Organizational Benefits of Executive Coaching

Regal Unlimited offers top executive coaching certification programs in India.

Regal Unlimited is a premier boutique coaching and coach training firm in India that offers B2B executive coaching services online and offline.

❖ 20+ executive coaches with leadership experience in different domains  ❖ 1000+ leaders coached ❖ 50+ organizations worldwide benefited  ❖ 300+ coaches trained.
Visit our website to find out more about our best executive coaching India programs. See if we are the right fit for your organization. Schedule a free discovery call with a Regal Coach right away.

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