I’ve developed a unique approach that is a blend of three roles:
Developmental Coach
Thinking Partner
Advisor
This approach creates real-time improvement and long term development. We address your learning as well as the organization’s needs and issues, in an integrated manner. The financial bottom line and the emotional, the personal and the impersonal, the strategic and the immediate can all be part of the process.
The result? You learn to think in new ways, to engage in challenging situations with a fresh perspective, to manage themselves more effectively, and to focus their energies on what is critically important. You get improved effectiveness in real time, and more accelerated, comprehensive development as a leader and manager that pays off throughout your career.
Finally, a coaching approach that responds to what I really need. The others have all felt like a recipe or a therapy session. In this case, I was treated like an Executive who needed to grow as a leader and also to solve today’s issues today. What a difference! I’m spoiled for life.”
For example: You say: “I’m not sure what to do about our organizational structure.”
Responses from the different role perspectives:
From the Developmental Role
“Let’s focus on what you need to learn to be confident and competent in that area.”
From the Thinking Partner role:
“Let’s talk about why that is important to you now, walk through the related issues and the options, and see if you can get some clarity and direction.”
From the Advisor role:
“Let’s talk about why that is important to you now, walk through the related issues and the options, and I’ll share my thoughts and what I’ve seen other clients do in similar situations.”
Each of these three responses opens a doorway to learning something about yourself, about organizations, and about leadership. And, you are better able to address the task at hand – your organizational structure – in the short term.
The emphasis is different in each, however, and we co-manage that during our conversations. This is an opportunity that’s made possible by decades of experience; I could not have managed this integration successfully in the first few years of my coaching work. It requires a real-time ongoing awareness of many factors.
We shape the work to fit your needs, by emphasizing these roles to suit your purpose. Each of us has a “default” mode or habitual stress response; if, for example, you consistently push me for the Advisor role, I’ll ask that we explore the reasons for that and probably push for more balance. On the other hand, some of my clients wish for traditional developmental coaching, and that’s what we do.