By Julie Overholt, PCC, CPBA President/CEO of JO Coaching & Assessments, Inc.    

#1 Improve Your Performance

1. The development of skill sets as related to business goals not only grows individuals, but unites them to others in their group and the organization at large. The external coach co-ordinates the process and assures its success.

#2   Make the Culture Work for You

1. Company cultures today need to become entrepreneurial, cooperative enterprises. The external coach works with the organization’s leadership to design an effective operating culture.

#3  Create Your Executive Presence

1. Character, communication and listening skill sets are more vital today than ever. Virtual communication methods require the executive’s hands on approach to be more polished and sophisticated than ever. An external coach provides an individual, confidential relationship to support the executive’s growth.

#4   Get More Done

1. The role of the individual and those leadership methods must be continually upgraded to stay ahead of an increasingly fickle customer base and less-loyal work force. Work environments are increasingly entrepreneurial and require thinking more like a business owner than ever before.

    

#5  Objective Point of View

1. Everyone the executive works with, including the spouse, has a need to maintain the status quo or to make changes that benefit them personally. The external coach is usually the only person in an executive’s rolodex whose only priority is the client’s best interest.

#6   Talk Through Your Challenges

1. Pent up frustrations and disappointments impair good judgment. Every executive needs an objective person to listen to them; someone with whom to talk things out.

#7  Expand Your Own Vision

1. A clear, concisely worded vision naturally keeps customers and employees focused, reducing the need for management and constant motivation. An Executive Coach is an expert at languaging concepts, goals and visions, and helps the leader articulate the vision.

#8   Another Set of Eyes

1. Smart business people understand that they have blind spots and most authorize a mandate to speak frankly and illuminate the executive’s blind spots. However, politics being as they are, most individuals aren’t empowered to speak their minds. The external coach has an ethical responsibility to point out what he/she sees.

#9  Get the Life Your Really Want

1. Leadership today requires a clear-thinking individual who is in touch with the many parts of life, not just running a company. Executives are expected to have a real life. The external coach works with the executive to design a balanced and sustainable personal and professional life.

#10  Focus on What Matters Most

1. The ability to assimilate and analyze huge amounts of data – reports, facts, trends, subtle changes in the marketplace, demographic shifts, and needs of the company – can become overwhelming. The executive coach helps the executive sort through information and navigate right to core issues.