Quick five with the ICF

We Had five minutes with the International Coaching federation President, Janet Harvey, MCC. Here She gives us the lowdown on how a business coach can help your business.

#1. Business and consumer confidence is at a low ebb right now; do business coaches have a realistic ability to re-invigorate suffering companies? And if so, how?
Yes, business coaches do have a realistic ability. What is challenging is opening the thinking of businesses to consider the creativity that is innate in the people in their organizations. What professional coaching facilitates is an open environment for leaders to pause, reflect deeply, heighten awareness of key strengths, gain clarity about how those strengths operate at the organization currently, consider ways to deploy those strengths in new ways that address areas of low ebb, restore self confidence and self respect by separating who leaders are individually and in the team of the organization from the circumstances that are external, encourage and support focus and to notice the tendency to be swept into the low ebb sooner and choose to focus forward on what alternatives exist. Coaches engage leaders in self dialogue so that they invite team dialogue about what new choices to make in relationship to the external events rather than be passively paralyzed.

#2. How can a company who may be in the in the midst of restructuring wages, staff numbers, and other touchy criteria justify the hiring of a business coach?
Those left behind are expected to perform at a heightened level of productivity and intensity while also absorbing the impact of loosing colleagues who are probably also friends and resisting 'victim thinking' that their job is next. In order to sustain focus on customers and performance results, coaching provides a resource to navigate the emotional blocks and strengthen attention on what creates positive outcomes and results for the organization. This is of course the best win-win formula for the individual and the organization.

#3. How do you go about finding a credible business coach?

• Look at our site we have a full list and plenty of links to assist you there
• Watch these videos on how to select a professional coach
• Ask about certification training and whether the individual has earned an credential from a globally recognized professional association.
• Ask about relevant business context and content experience that will support the coach in quick understanding of the business environment and leader experience.
• Ask for references and explore how the coach does their work to determine a good fit with the organizational culture
• Interview directly and assess the fit when engaged in direct dialogue; speak to at least 3 coaches for each leader assignment

#4. How do you know if a coach is any good at their job and how long is it likely to take for a company to start seeing the positive outcome?
See answers above. Creating trust and intimacy that allows for safe exploration of areas to strengthen or develop is an essential characteristic of an excellent coach. With this, coaches challenge leaders to consider new approaches, recognize blind spots and choose a more productive approach, increase agility in situations, relationships and circumstances where success is not being generated or sustained. Awareness and clarity will arise very quickly even after the first session and the behavior change will occur over time. The safer the environment for adopting new behaviors, the faster results will occur. It is very important that leader, coach and organization sponsor co-created the evidence of progress, defined in ways that are observable. Measure a baseline and set goals for positive impact.

#5. What are the key goals business coaches want to achieve within an organisation, how do they go about implementing them?
Business coaches do not want to achieve key goals, clients do.
Business coaches support clients in gaining awareness and clarity about the outcomes and results that are most important, the behaviors and mindset that facilitate those outcomes and results and then explore what must be adopted /changed/adjusted by an individual leader to integrate a more effective approach.

Business Coaching