CEO Today - April 2022

EXECUTIVE COACHING www.ceotodaymagazine.com 50 clients the results they seek while saving time, money, and most importantly getting them the career results, they are desperately seeking. Why is it important to continue working on your potential, even when you’ve made it to the top? We are living in a present time where everything is changing faster than we can put it into practice and executives must adapt and embrace life-long learning. I tell clients they should find ways in which they can absorb information and put it into practice daily. Therefore, speed of implementation is key. Keep in mind that we live in the information age, where we can learn virtually and access a wealth of information from TEDx Talks to online skill-building platforms like Coursera. So, why not make incremental improvements daily? Another important factor to staying at the top as an executive is to work on wellbeing. We are dealing with unimaginable global events that are leaving executives tired, burnt-out, and feeling hopeless. To be a great leader of today, executives must perform at high peak levels and under extreme pressures. This means that executive leaders’ mental health, financial and physical well-being should take the front and centre if they want to have an edge over the competition. Tell us more about your approach and methods? Our executive career coaching approach is comprehensive, which includes four career development phases. The first phase fully evaluates the client’s background, skill set, values, strengths, and introspection. During this phase, we take a deep dive into the client’s work history and through coaching, we unravel what the client’s Top 5 Strengths Initially, clients don’t want to commit to working with an executive career coach because they want to transition on their own until they find themselves submitting hundreds of resumes online with zero results. Eventually, leaving them frustrated and stuck in their current job or career. However, there is a silver lining with the help of a career coach and three major benefits when it comes to being guided by a professional. The first benefit is that it will save clients time. Think about it like this—if you have ever tried to learn something new on your own, you will quickly realise that it takes time to research, learn tools and techniques, and not to mention the best implementation methods. The research and learning part will rob clients of their limited time. So, why not go straight to a career coach who will hand-hold them through the entire career development process and show them a shortcut to finding their ideal career? This leads to the second benefit of money savings. For career changers, there are bills to be paid and loved ones to take care of and if they postpone their career change, they will feel stuck and miserable in their situation. Many times, clients feel like their job is taking over every ounce of their precious energy, leaving nothing left at the end of the day to give to their loved ones or to find a new career path. At Signature Careers, we help clients understand and know their value, which equals better job matches and career satisfaction. The third benefit is that clients will get to their career goals faster. I have coached many senior military career changers for a short period of one month and when we are done with coaching, they land ideal jobs within weeks. Now, that is unheard of since the average career changer will find a viable job in six months to a year. There are many other benefits to working with a well-known career expert that gives are by administering CliftonStrengths assessments. The second phase is the career exploration phase, where we work diligently to find the client’s ideal career/job through a series of career methods and process of elimination techniques. This is where the client gets clarity and can identify a career path that they are interested in pursuing. The third phase is the refining of tools, tricks, and techniques. This phase will help the client get their foot in the door for an interview. Our coaches will help with updating their LinkedIn, redesigning, and integrating search engine optimised keywords into their resume so that their resume can easily bypass the applicant tracking systems. The last phase is guiding the client on how to land the job by practicing interviewing skills and refining their elevator pitch. This last step will also include strategies that are designed exclusively for the client to help negotiate salary and accept the best job offer that fits with their career goals. What are the key areas you work on with your clients? Initially clients contact me for a newly written resume, when in fact they need so much more. Sure, the resume is a tool that will help them land the interview, but it’s not their saving grace. The reality is that the process of making a smooth career change starts with the client’s deepest understanding of who they are and what they bring to the table when they court an employer. Let me clarify that a successful career transition begins with understanding why the client has decided to make a career change. The why is important to address first before I can deliver a new resume. So, when clients first contact me, I wonder “what was bugging them so much that

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