Choosing an Executive Coach: Pick for Feedback Loops

Choosing an Executive Coach

Are you working in a company or law firm where leaders have an executive coach and are enrolled in a leadership development program?  Does your organization have a well developed plan to hire the right executive coaches that are a good fit with the company culture?

One of the most powerful questions you can ask is “What executive coaching qualities should we look for when hiring the best executive coaches for our company leaders?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent leaders have a well designed plan for selecting the right coaches for their executive coaching and leadership development programs.

Pick for Feedback Loops

An executive coach must serve as the conduit for colleagues’ feedback. Your peers will rarely share authentic feedback with you, and a skilled executive coach can solicit important information in a way that satisfies confidentiality requirements. Clear agreements, established boundaries and skilled diplomacy are critical.

Your executive coach should help you develop the skills needed to create relationships in which you can ask for honest feedback on an ongoing basis. Regular feedback is the "Breakfast of Champions"!

Instead of encouraging dependence, your executive coach should teach you how to manage your development in the future. After an initial assessment, a good executive coach shows you how to form links with colleagues and teaches them how to frame useful, specific feedback instead of vague judgments.

Your executive coach will teach you to ask for feedback and manage the conversation without being defensive. This includes learning how to determine which feedback is relevant and valid, prioritize the issues you need to address and figure out how to handle them.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help company leaders have a successful executive coaching and leadership development experience by choosing the right executive coaches. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become happily engaged and aligned with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.

I am currently accepting new executive coaching and career coaching clients. I work with both individuals and organizations. Call 415-546-1252 or send an inquiry e-mail to mbrusman@workingresources.com.