
Communication

World's #1 Executive Coach
World's #1 Executive Coach and author of 11 books. Former coach to Steve Jobs and PepsiCo CEO Roger Enrico. Pioneer of Intelligent Leadership, transforming nearly one million leaders across 55 countries.




![Executive leadership coaching] Degrees are great, but successful executive coaches bring hard-won wisdom and additional training to the table too.[/caption] Success in the field of executive leadership coaching often grows from a strong background in business. Many people make the transition from HR professional to coach, or from successful executive to executive coach. However, executive coaches may come from just about any background, including STEM, healthcare, teaching, or even sports coaching. Whether executive leadership coaching is a good career choice depends on several factors. Let’s talk about some of them. A Day in the Life of the Typical Executive Leadership Coach If you want rock-solid predictability in your day-to-day tasks, then executive leadership coaching is probably not for you. On some days you may see clients in person, or meet with a company’s senior executive staff. On others, you may speak with coaching clients over the phone or on Skype. Another day, you may administer evaluation tools to clients and score them to learn where you’ll be starting with that client. With executive leadership coaching, you’re not trying to change who people are into some prototype of the “successful executive.” Rather, you’re helping them tap into their strengths and understand the mindsets and habits that sabotage their efforts, according to coach and trainer Sandra Richardson. Both Coaching and Business Skills Required to Succeed Professionally If you are to make a career out of executive leadership coaching, then you must accept that not only will you be coaching clients, you will be running a business, with all that entails. Therefore, if you lack basic business skills, you will have trouble making your career work even if you have outstanding coaching skills. This is the reason that many mid-career and later-career professionals integrate executive leadership coaching into their existing careers, or gradually make the transition from being, say, a counselor or business leader into being an executive leadership coach. Tips on Succeeding at Executive Leadership Coaching First of all, you must consider executive leadership coaching within the context in which you want to practice. For example, you will need to approach your career differently if you’re in New York City than if you’re in Mumbai or Beijing. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2Fofsa244f%2Fproduction%2F170b00c3a29871364dd7cd7d536d8883dd588e4d-1000x667.jpg%3Frect%3D0%2C22%2C1000%2C625%26w%3D480%26h%3D300&w=3840&q=75)
![Corporate culture consultant] When change isn’t managed from inception beyond completion, negative elements can become entrenched in the culture.[/caption] The corporate culture consultant helps companies that are committed to creating a positive corporate culture. He or she also assists companies that are undergoing major changes that want to ensure that key values remain in place during and after the transition and that the “new, improved” organization works toward worthy goals and values its team members and customers. Creating Corporate Culture Like Creating a Productive Garden Think of creating a great corporate culture as if you’re creating a garden from the ground up. You want to look at the elements that are already in place, like the sun position, where there’s shade, and where water drains to, similarly to how you would evaluate your company’s assets and attitudes. Furthermore, you have to commit to every step of the process: testing the soil to see what’s lacking, enriching it appropriately, choosing what to plant, and tending to it, while pulling up weeds as soon as they pop up, not waiting for them to develop tenacious roots. Though you may want your garden to be a productive place, perhaps there’s also a place for sheer beauty – perhaps an area of wildflowers, a border of perennial greenery, or a peaceful rock garden off in the shade. Analogous approaches are necessary for good corporate culture to develop. What a Corporate Culture Consultant Does Just as a master gardener works with people to show them how to get excellent results, the corporate culture consultant applies tools and processes to ensure that positive changes to corporate culture take place at every level of the organization. First, they assess needs and determine which tools are necessary to define goals and work toward excellence in corporate culture, and then they ensure clients develop the necessary skills to handle both the incipient change and changes that occur later on. They may teach organizational leaders how to manage corporate culture and how to build stronger teams. Overcoming Resistance to Change [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2Fofsa244f%2Fproduction%2F77a1773b1e325cd3cffeaa9f9a82f432b5a0a7ee-1000x667.jpg%3Frect%3D0%2C22%2C1000%2C625%26w%3D480%26h%3D300&w=3840&q=75)


![Leadership skills] Chances are, the world leaders you most admire keep or used to keep a daily journal.[/caption] One Harvard Business School study found that setting aside just 15 minutes at the end of the workday to reflect and write in your journal can help you improve your performance measurably. Compared to employees who did not spend the last 15 minutes of their workday writing and reflecting in a personal journal, employees who did performed better by 22.5% on a test about a particular customer account. Action and Reflection Complement Each Other Action and reflection can have a positive symbiotic relationship. Reflecting each day on what has worked and what hasn’t can help you correct course before you go too far off track. Being an effective leader is in many ways like being accomplished in a sport. And the best athletes in the world regularly review their games, their stats, their backhand, or their form so they’ll be armed with a little more knowledge next time they practice or play. When you regularly reflect on your performance and take the time to record your thoughts, you prime yourself for better action the next day. It’s a positive cycle. Keeping a Journal Can Help You Manage Stress Many psychologists and executive coaches recommend keeping a journal because it can be a highly effective method for managing stress. Writing down what happened with honesty and candor helps you gain the proper perspective – if not now, then a few days or weeks hence. It also helps you build your self-awareness: where you excel, where you have difficulty, what energizes you, what drains you, and what derails your performance. Self-awareness and acceptance of both strengths and weaknesses help you develop emotional intelligence, which is widely considered to be a key factor in successful leadership. Ask Yourself Explorative Questions [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2Fofsa244f%2Fproduction%2Ffdcafd36b104858c0d626b207b2339fbf34001ac-1024x768.png%3Frect%3D0%2C64%2C1024%2C640%26w%3D480%26h%3D300&w=3840&q=75)
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