Leadership team coaching has a reputation for being three things:
- A waste of time
- Focused on the soft stuff
- Only for “bad leaders”
We hate that we kind of have to agree. Often, corporate coaching engagements are out-of-the-box workshops that while well-intended are too generic and only temporarily treat the symptoms, not the cause of organizational misalignment. But even more frustrating than that, most senior leadership team coaching engagements are fundamentally disconnected from the actual business objectives that the selected leaders are charged with achieving.
At Bright Arrow, we believe there is a better way. Executive leadership team coaching can and should be done in the context of your organization’s most pressing business challenges and be focused on improving the work processes, systems and interactions that are barriers to growth and profit.
Business Strategy at the Center of Leadership Team Coaching
Effective executive leadership team coaching is maximized when tailored to improve several key performance indicators, so it is important to be clear about what your organization needs to measure in order to determine a solid, measurable return on investment. Your leadership coaching firm should work with you to align your engagement to the specific business goals the leadership team is charged with achieving.
Defining Organizational Goals and Needs is the First Priority in Executive Leadership Team Coaching
Key performance indicators that are often incorporated into coaching ROI calculations include:
- Revenue : new and returning
- Productivity : personal or team performance
- Employee satisfaction : retention/turnover
- Cost control : investments prioritization
- Sales volume : pipeline and loyalty
- Successful change initiatives : mergers, acquisitions or divestitures
- Successful product or services launch
Beyond influencing top business metrics, after an executive leadership team coaching engagement, your team should be the right size to function most effectively, as well as know how to organize themselves so that they can create meaningful and measurable results. The leadership team coach should help establish repeatable and scalable systems that improve business performance, while also positively impacting the development of leaders who role model the best of your company’s culture.
Team Leadership Coaching Improves the Individual, the Group and the Organization
On an individual level, you should see functional leaders become enterprising leaders. They will move into more strategic thinking patterns and be able to forecast the future rather than being reactionary; simultaneously impacting ROI and KPIs. They will be part of a team that will make more effective decisions together by showing true collaboration, which means thinking less about the functional area they are inclined to advocate for and instead considering the good of the whole organization.
Finally, leaders will leave the engagement being able to replicate with their down-line teams the good habits and methods they have adopted, spreading the improved productivity and behaviors throughout your organization.
In every company, leadership teams should set the tone for an organization's success. A senior leadership team coaching engagement paves the way for optimal leadership performance driven by deliberate steps. Beyond the allure of bottom-line metrics and ROI, the true power of coaching lies in its ability to foster enterprising leaders who think strategically, collaborate harmoniously, work productively, and cultivate a culture that echoes across the organizational fabric.
Discover How Leadership Team Coaching Can Benefit Your Organization
