What is executive coaching?

It is a process in which you as senior leaders and executives, work with an accredited coach to explore your situation, review your behaviours, thoughts and ambitions, and enhance your individual and business performance. You determine and commit to your goals, while allowing the coach to hold you accountable.

How does coaching differ from mentoring, consulting or therapy?

The simplistic answer would be that mentoring is offering guidance and advice, consulting is giving direction, method, technique & information and therapy is probing, psychoanalysis & deep reflection.

The more realistic answer would be to look at coaching on a continuum, sitting somewhere between expert advice and therapy. The coach and client need to have access to this range in order to be receptive, responsive and agile in adjusting to different contexts and situations.

It is worth noting that although psychotherapy informs coaching it does not qualify the coach (unless they are also psychotherapists) to treat pathology or illness

There are so many people out there calling themselves executive coaches, how do I separate the wheat from the chaff?

Things to consider:

• Number of years of coaching experience

• Experience coaching senior leaders, middle managers and junior staff and across different functions

• Experience in a leadership position

• Accreditation – EMCC or ICF: an indication that the coach has approached her training in a professional manner

• Coach training from a reputable institution

• The coach should have a commitment to continual personal development

• Coaching Supervision -to ensure that the coach is working on her skills and the ongoing coaching relationship

How long is a coaching engagement?

• Typical engagements can be anything from 3, 6 or 12 months in duration

• The sessions can be 60 or 90 minutes long

• The frequency can be every fortnight, month or quarter

• Adhoc sessions may also occur at any time during the engagement