The challenge to achieve Peak Performance is ever increasing in every Organisation. It is common knowledge now that the performance of a team or department in the Organisation leans heavily on one key factor – The Leader.
Leadership styles and leadership skills are ever evolving, and every Leader needs to upskill himself as he moves upwards in his career. There are many options for the Leader to close the knowledge and skills gap. Some of the options include corporate training programs or pursuing an MBA (part time or full-time). While these options are good the investment in terms of time and costs could be a hindrance. Besides that fact, acquiring general Management and Leadership knowledge may not equip the Leader with the specific skills he needs to solve the challenges in his team towards achieving Peak Performance.
One good option that is becoming more popular in Corporate Organisations is Executive Coaching. Coaching the Leader to improve his Leadership Style and Leadership Skills has over the years proven to be effective as many studies have proven (Kenneth P De Meuse 2009; Albizu Gallastegiu, 2019; and Bozer, Sarros & C Santora, 2014).
Here are 3 advantages why Executive Coaching is a preferred option for enhancing Leadership Skills
- The knowledge and skills learnt in Executive Coaching Programs is not just academic but practical and contextual for the Leader in his/her Organisation.
- There is a strong focus on Application of the Leadership knowledge and skills and emphasis is placed on sustained behavioural change with an added advantage of it being measured.
- The Process of acquiring knowledge and change in Leadership style can be customised to suit the Leader in terms of time, money and the leader’s unique Learning style. (Bear in mind high level and highly reputable Senior Managers may not be comfortable learning in the traditional way and need a more personal touch)
Some of the Skills that Leaders can acquire ONLY in Executive Coaching but not in other Learning processes is as follows:
- Self-awareness and Reflective Learning
- Personal Change - Changing Mindset and Sustained Behaviour Change
- Self-assessment and performance gap analysis
- Changing from an operations mindset to a strategic mindset
- Developing a mixed and modified Leadership Style that is unique and highly effective for that
If there any drawbacks in executive coaching for Leaders, it is probably the fact that one needs to find a good fit between the Leader and Executive Coach. Apart from that the cost factor for Executive Coaching maybe a consideration. But more and more organisations are reporting how Executive Coaching as an option has worked well for enhancing Leadership Skills and the financial investment has given very good ROIs.
Overall anecdotal and research (studies mentioned above) in the workplace has shown time and again the efficacy of Executive Coaching and hence that is why most of the top performing organisations like Microsoft, IBM, Xerox, Shell, Apple and many others have repeatedly chosen this option for Leadership enhancement towards Peak Performance.
Article by Coach Dr. Muruga BDS, M. Psych