I never knew what an executive coach was prior to launching my own secretarial support business. As I started working with different organizations and executives I learned more about the field of executive coaching services. I have learned that coaching is not only for the upper-level manager or executive, but it is for anyone who might need clarity, direction, or help with achieving goals on any level. Executive and Personal Coaching involves so many areas that it would be impossible to list them all.

For the upper level manager or executive it might provide a level of accountability that they might not have otherwise, and through this accountability give them more of an incentive to achieve their goals within a set time frame, or reach that next level, or it might help by just having someone to confidentially share their strategies with as a sounding board. Although coaching in the business environment usually does not focus on personal issues the majority of the time, it certainly can provide assistance in that area by improving effectiveness in many other areas, and reducing the overall stress that that person is under on a day-to-day basis. This certainly has a direct impact on the whole individual, not to mention the health benefits of overall stress reduction.

This performance-based coaching can help individuals achieve success on their own terms, allowing them to retain control of certain areas and maintain their own comfort level. At times is is obviously necessary to move outside of your comfort level to obtain results. Coaching not only seeks to constantly improve an individual's level of effectiveness, but it also examines that person's areas of success to reinforce areas of excellence by recognizing and building upon them.

From what I have heard, coaching helps develop and refine new skill sets that can help anyone navigate through the daily challenges of running a business, managing employees, making that career change, and overcoming the various obstacles that may be hindering us from achieving our goals. We each view situations differently based on our various experiences and environments. Executive coaching can provide a means of uncovering areas that we might not be seeing as clearly as we should, or areas of decision making where we might not fully understand or realize the final consequences of our actions.

Some individuals involved in management have commented on how becoming involved with Executive Coaching has improved their effectiveness to such a degree that it has had a noticeable effect on their morale, job satisfaction, and performance, and that they are able to see the big picture for the first time in regards to their future and goals. To take that comment a step further, these managers have also recognized a positive change in the way they managed people. Their employees were more satisfied as a direct result of the manager making improvements and adopting new management techniques and communication styles throughout their department or business.

A few questions for us all:

Where are you now? Where do you want to be in five years time? How will you get there? Will you know when you get there? How satisfied are you with your job? What steps can you take to get where you want to go both personally and professionally?

There are so many levels we can go into: The workaholic, time management issues, lacking goals, always being in emergency mode, not being able to relax outside of business hours, being dissatisfied with your job or career choice, problems dealing with co-workers or partners, communication problems, and the list can go on.

Parting thoughts:

A research study concludes that training combined with coaching increased productivity by 88%! (Gerald Olivero, K. Denise Bane, & Richard E. Kopelmann; Public Personnel Management; Washington; ISSN:00910260). The same ‘97 study concluded that training alone increased productivity by 22.4%.

In his book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," Stephen Covey tells us that most of us desire to be understood but that we do not seek to understand. Perhaps if we can change this behavior it would lead to tremendous improvements in our business and personal lives.

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