Most corporate career paths lead to a managerial position and preparing one’s self for that step up in responsibility can be hard. Transitioning from subordinate to manager can even be a stress-filled experience, for instance, if you got promoted to a position where you will be managing longtime colleagues or people much older than you.
To ensure that newly-promoted managers can transition with ease into their new functions, a lot of companies are hiring executive coaches.
What is executive coaching?
For the most part, coaching describes a helping relationship between a trained coach and an individual, designed to support the mentee as he tries to achieve specific objectives. Executive coaching differs from other forms of coaching in that the mentee is generally a person who holds a high level position within an organization where duties include major decision making and guidance of people and operations.
How executive coaches can help you
Executive coaches can assist you in several ways. First of all, they help you build the skills essential for your position, for instance, presentation and delegation skills. You may also be coached on basic management theories, strategies, and organizational behavior. Another aspect executive coaches can help you with is your performance. This can include instruction on strengthening collaborative behavior with other workers, correcting ineffective and undesirable behaviors, or reaching quotas. An executive coach can also serve as a sounding board for the mentee, giving comments, observations, and even networking as required.
Choosing an executive coach
Experience, education and chemistry are three essential things to consider when selecting an executive coach. The correct coach for you is one who is competent, trained and has years, if not decades of experience. He or she must have done coursework that is strongly related organizational and executive coaching and can give certifications as proof. Coaches have different educational backgrounds, but most of them finished psychology, business or human resource management courses. While length of experience is a good sign that a coach is reputable, you also need to check if he or she has extensive experience coaching managers in your particular line of work. It is not unlikely that a coach who is recognized to produce consistently great results doesn’t match you. It is crucial that you select a coach you feel you can establish good rapport with. The more at ease you are with your coach, the easier it is to trust, and the more productive the coaching will be. You should remember, however, that as the mentee, you ought to be open to change and criticism. A coach will identify not only your skills and strengths, but also harsh and ineffective behaviors
Transitioning to a managerial position can be stressful. Fortunately, one can ease into the new role and be good at it with the help of executive coaches. You can find more pointers on executive leadership here.