Executive Coaching - A Guide For The HR Professional.pdf

46 EXECUTIVE COACHING
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A reasonable approach, therefore, is to set an initial goal and
expect to confirm or revise it as time goes by.
Goal setting is central to the process. Well-defined goals allow
you to work together, to assess progress and success, to choose appropriate
methods and relevant data, and so forth. Good coaching is
results-oriented and doesn’t wander off into unimportant tangents.
It is important for the coach to understand the business challenges
facing both the client and the organization.
The goal for many coaching engagements is expressed in behavioral
terms. For example, the client will do more or less of something,
or learn to do something, or stop doing something. Some
typical goals in executive coaching address client improvement in
leadership competencies, specific interpersonal and social competencies,
and the ability to manage his/her career issues. Other goals
may explicitly and implicitly involve increasing the effectiveness of
the organization and team.
When possible, it will be useful to define the coaching goal in
“business” terms—connecting it to operating plans or financial measures.
This is often not possible, however desirable it might be. It is
generally sufficient for the goal to be agreed on by the four interested
parties—client, coach, HR, and boss. Both the client’s needs
and the employer’s interests must be served. This agreement may be
easy to reach or may be negotiated.
3. Assessment
Good coaching rests on a foundation of good data. It is important
for the coach to quickly ascertain the performance level of the
client in order to understand the magnitude of the gap between
current performance and future desired performance. How is
the client currently functioning? What has to improve or change
for the client to maximize performance? The coach has to determine
the overall pattern of strengths and challenge areas to help
the client set goals for improvements in job performance. The coach
and the client must be able to operate together with a common