Services

Our approach to coaching is about enabling each leader to develop their ability to self-reflect, and to understand what this means in terms of their own strengths and limitations and how they affect and impact others. However, CLC never forgets that the organisation is the ultimate client. Therefore, the context for CLC coaching is to unlock individual potential, energy, creativity and commitment in support of the organisation and its change goals.

Our coaching involves a series of meetings, typically 1.5 hours at fortnightly intervals, for a six to nine month period. These meetings are supportive, challenging and highly reflective conversations. They help change attitudes and deep-seated personal mindsets that inhibit change, and manage a range of different responses to change, ultimately creating more effective leadership behaviour.

The process involves dialogue at two essential levels:

1. Business process: including change objectives, the current and desired situation, options and next steps.
2. Human process: in-depth understanding of mindsets, attitude to change, personal mastery (including confidence and self-awareness) and development of leadership of change competencies such as leadership styles, empowered teams, communication skills and direction setting.

BENEFITS

The specific benefits are always linked to the leader’s unique development areas. Generally speaking, you can expect to see an increase in:

• Becoming a truly human-centred leader.
• The ability to deliver results repeatedly.
• Personal self-awareness and self-confidence.
• Flexibility of leadership style.
• The ability to create environments that empower others.
• The ability to lead and deliver complex change.
• Ability to align direct reports and major parts of the organisation.
• Satisfaction and job fulfilment.
• Clarity of purpose and direction.
• Strategic perspective.
• Focus and clarity of role.
• A commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility that is ethical and honest.

HOW IT WORKS

1. 1. Contracting > 2. Delivering the contract > 3. Review

CONTRACTING

The CLC coach/consultant meets with the client to agree the desired outcomes of the coaching programme. What needs to be different in a three month, six month, one year time frame that the coach can support? Measures are agreed – ‘how will we know that this programme has been successful?’ It is valuable to involve the client’s line manager in the contracting process. This makes sure that there is clarity of focus and transparency from the outset.

It may be useful to explore the use of other assessments and diagnostics including personality profiles and 360 degree feedback. CLC can bring our own tools, or we can any that are currently in use in the organisation.

DELIVERING THE CONTRACT

The coach meets with the client for a series of two weekly coaching sessions for six to nine months. Whilst the coach and client are working towards the delivery of an agreed contract, the specific focus of each session, which is a step towards completion of that contract, is determined by the emerging client needs through the course of the sessions.

The conversations often include discussion of:

Early on:

• Change objectives, deliverable and success measures.
• Exploring any diagnostics, profiles and 360 output (if used)
• The leader’s (non-conscious) mindsets that either support or resist the change process.
• How the leader is going to manage these mindsets.

Then:

• Working ‘smart’ to deliver the results.
• Getting more done in less time.
• Getting and giving feedback.
• Delegating, and developing other people.
• Communicating the big picture.
• Listening to what people really need.
• Creating ownership and involvement.
• Flexing leadership style.
• Identifying what is urgent and what is important.

REVIEW

Coaching is an ongoing, iterative process. It works around the core objectives that get set early on, though usually the ‘goal posts’ move during the course of the programme. It is a useful discipline to stop at intervals to ask, ‘what did we aim to achieve and what have we actually achieved?’

If the client’s line manager has been involved then the coach and client report back. What has been achieved and learned so far?

It can be useful to repeat any diagnostics and 360 feedback to get a quantifiable measure of progress.