Choosing an Executive Coach
Are you working in a company or law firm where leaders have an executive coach and are enrolled in a leadership development program? Does your organization have a well developed plan to hire the right executive coaches that are a good fit with the company culture?
One of the most powerful questions you can ask is “What executive coaching qualities should we look for when hiring the best executive coaches for our company leaders?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent leaders have a well designed plan for selecting the right coaches for their executive coaching and leadership development programs.
Pick for Feedback Loops
An executive coach must serve as the conduit for colleagues’ feedback. Your peers will rarely share authentic feedback with you, and a skilled coach can solicit important information in a way that satisfies confidentiality requirements. Clear agreements, established boundaries and skilled diplomacy are critical.
Your executive coach should help you develop the skills needed to create relationships in which you can ask for honest feedback on an ongoing basis. Regular feedback from valued colleagues is the “Breakfast of Champions”! An executive coach certified in the Bar-On EQ-i 360 can interview critical people at work and gather data to help you improve your effectiveness at work.
Instead of encouraging dependence, your executive coach should teach you how to manage your development in the future. After an initial assessment, a good coach shows you how to form links with colleagues and teaches them how to frame useful, specific feedback instead of vague judgments. Your 360 feedback team can support you when they observe you leveraging your strengths and making a significant contribution to achieving team and organizational goals. Alternatively, the members of your 360 feedback team can challenge you when they perceive you are still exhibiting behaviors you had agreed to change. The goal is for you and the organization to get better and be more effective.
Your executive coach will teach you to ask for feedback and manage the conversation without being defensive. This includes learning how to determine which feedback is relevant and valid, prioritize the issues you need to address and figure out how to handle them.
Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help company leaders have a successful executive coaching and leadership development experience by choosing the right executive coaches. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become happily engaged and aligned with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.