Regenerate!

Scene : A coaching session with a CEO.

CEO: There are now two candidates for the job of the operations head. A has many years of relevant experience and is less qualified. I can get him easily and at a substantially lower CTC. B is qualified, experienced, and very ambitious. He will cost twice as much as A. A is eager to join, whereas B is ambivalent. I think A suits us.

I (the coach): A suits the company or he suits you?

CEO: umm….B seems to have strong views..such people you know..

I: The question is whether A can revamp the operations as you need. If he can not, the entire CTC spent on him will be a waste. As long as B’s strong views are based on facts, logic, and partly gut feeling backed by conviction, there is nothing wrong. One can not achieve anything without these things.

The CEO went into deep thought.

CEO: I see your point. The operations head  will take up the work I was handling so far. I do not want him to leave things as they are and I should learn to deal with a strong person who can change things. But what is guarantee that B will carry out changes and that he is not just a hard headed person? Also, B will upset our salary structure.

I: That is a good question to ask. CTC is less important as long it is market related and as long the company can afford it. Is the salary structure out of step with market? If yes,it will have to change.

The CEO again got immersed in his thoughts.

A leader’s most immediate output is decisions that can leave a lasting impact on their companies and morale of their people. People related decisions fall in this category. Unknown to our conscious mind, we use wrong criteria for making decisions.

A good business \ leadership \ executive coach can help in averting such blunders.

(In this case, the CEO went on to hire B. He also revamped the salary structure realizing that the company was at a risk of losing good people. Some years down line , the  company has revamped its operations and has a stronger and balanced management team.)

Non-judgmental attitude!

Why? You need a coach to help you think widely and deeply. If your executive coach reaches conclusions fast (he or she as an accomplished business leader may be able to reach conclusions faster), your thinking process will remain stunted. Your coach should help you to make better decisions and make them faster.  You do not want the coach to undertake thinking on your behalf.

This attribute is by far the most difficult one to have.

How to recognize this: Have a conversation with your potential executive coach. The conversation need not be about the coaching assignment. You can also listen into such a conversation.

Note down how many open-ended questions (how, in what way, .) the coach asks. Open ended questions result in answers that describe situations and possibilities.

Note down how many times  he or she asks closed-ended questions (this or that?). Such questions require one to choose from just two options.

More open-ended questions indicate a thinking pattern that is not inherently judgmental.

In other words, your coach should be a curious person! Since we associate curiosity with children and do not give enough thought to it, the above explanation is needed.

If yes, then give it a little more thought. Your business metrics can make a big impact on your strategic and tactical decisions.

Metrics or measurements used for reviewing and planning various aspects of business have a lot of bearing on the results because what is measured and inspected is considered important by people. Metrics can be classified as historical or forward looking. Bias for historical data and analysis needs to be overcome. Customers, employees, and cash flows can provide vital clues to CEOs aiming to establish more forward looking signals and metrics. One can derive actionable points from even historical metrics if root-cause analysis for coming up with pro-active actions is done. Will all this take CEO’s attention away from vision, innovation, and inspiring people? No. The above methods provide a springboard for day to day innovation and path breaking ideas. They also support realizing the vision.

Read more