Language - The stories we tell ourselves Body / Physiology - What we ‘sense and notice’ Moods and Emotions - What we feel or the energy that moves us ‘Way of Being’ – this is internal to us EXECUTIVE COACHING www.ceotodaymagazine.com 44 You must be a learner, and ask questions to co-create an outcome, however, it is not necessarily a fixed programme with agreed objectives. Coaching, ultimately, is the ability to ask questions, to challenge thinking and feeling, be truly present, be an observer of others and a trained listener, to support the coachee to get to an outcome for themself, over an agreed programme where that person has set the objectives that matter to them. This should, in an enterprise sponsored programme, include the views of the sponsor (typically the line manager) to ensure alignment and a measurable ROI for the programme. What are the key attributes of an excellent coaching programme? There are different types of coaching, which does not help when trying to define what coaching is and what the key attributes are – for example, there is ‘business coaching’ (more akin to consulting and perhaps mentoring); there is ‘life coaching’ (“empowering people to achieve success in their personal or professional life”). This form of coaching still requires the type of competencies and qualifications outlined above and relies on asking questions; there is ‘career transition coaching’ (again, a hybrid of asking questions and sharing insights, where the coach has to have experience and hopefully certification in some form of coaching to support a person through a career transition journey). Then there is ‘executive coaching’, which for me is supporting a leader through a transformative journey of self, such that the person becomes a more effective leader of self, of their team, of their business and in society. I acknowledge that not all executive coaching is as deep or transformative as mine is, however, an executive coach must have the accredited coach training and experience in business to be able to empathise with the coachee, ask searching and challenging questions to support that person achieve the objectives that they create for themself. credentialed coaching globally. In January 2019, I was both a certified Ontological Coach and a Professionally Credentialed Coach by the ICF, with a growing client base and amessage that was getting clearer. Play that forward to June 2022, I have continued to grow my coaching practice serving C Suite leaders on a personal transformation journey both of leadership of self and leadership of others, along with supporting executives in career transition to find their next role and the ‘problem that they choose to be the solution to’. With regards to professional standards, in May 2022 I was re-credentialed with a Professional Certificate of Coaching (PCC) by the ICF, and in January 2022 I joined a Branch leadership team of the ICF in Australasia. In January 2021, I wrote and published a book about Trust, “Trust – begins and ends with self”. This has led me to speak publicly on this subject and work with executive teams in the domain of ‘collective trust’ within their team. It is a privilege to do the work that I do and serve the leaders I serve. What does coaching mean to you? Executive coaching is different to mentoring. In my view, it is something that you must be certified in by an accredited coach training school, as well as potentially being credentialed in from an internationally recognised credentialing body, like the ICF, to serve clients. It is an industry with an incredibly low barrier to entry (in fact no barrier to entry), which means that anyone can call themselves a coach. This is an issue for clients, for businesses who want to procure coaches, and for the credibility of the industry in terms of standards. So, what is the distinction between mentoring and executive coaching? Mentoring is where ‘you have walked in the shoes of the person you are mentoring’. You have accumulated wisdom, knowledge, and experience to impart to the mentee through sharing stories and providing both insights and advice. In summary, coaching is unregulated and not clearly defined. My assertion is that executive coaching is about asking questions, not providing advice; it has a defined programme with objectives and a timeframe; it should only be conducted by a certified coach from an accredited training provider, who ideally is credentialed and has a coach mentor/ supervisor; the coach must have the appropriate business experience and references to serve the coachee to achieve their self-created objectives of their programme – and of course provide value through an agreed ROI! What makes your coaching programmes effective? They are transformational for those who choose to work with me. They are transformational in the way in which a client sees self and becomes more selfaware – their ‘way of being’; in how a client uses language to build relationships, effect change and deliver outcomes; in how a client behaves and takes purposeful action so that those who choose to follow them are empowered, guided and feel safe to achieve what they set out to do, both for self, team, business and in society. This is in the domain of their ‘way of doing’. To explain at a deeper level why my programmes are effective, I make the distinction between a client’s ‘way of being’ and their ‘way of doing’: ‘Way of Being’ – this is internal to us
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