An executive coach helps identify your strong and weak areas, helping you grow with ease. With the need of maximizing key areas of your role, such as your communication and leadership skills, you may be on the lookout for certified executive coaches. However, the busy market of executive coaches may leave you confused about the right one for you.
With that in mind, this article aims to help you with a host of useful tips that will help you zero in on the best executive coach for you.
Here are a few key things to consider when choosing your executive coach.
1. Location
Do you want to be able to meet face-to-face regularly with your coach? If so, their location being reasonably close to yours will be an important, unchanging factor. However, as the world has moved to the new normal, remote coaching should not be a problem.
2. Their Specialist Skills
If you are looking to upskill in a specific area of work or acquire a skill, then it may be necessary to find someone who has experience and knowledge of that skill. For instance, if you wish to develop effective communication and strategy-building skill, you may want to find someone who has great leadership coaching skills or can act as a thought partner for you.
3. Their Credentials
In your executive role, it is very important to choose a coach who is well qualified and accredited by recognized professional bodies.
4. Their Industrial Experience, Results, and Style
These three aspects are among the most crucial factors that will help you in your hunt for certified executive coaches. Does the coach have experience of working in your particular industry? Do they have glowing testimonials and case studies from other coaching clients? Do you resonate with those kind of results? What is their innate nature or characteristic? Are they blunt, diplomatic, soft-natured, hard-hitting? Are they good listeners?
Often times one does not need to be too stringent about demanding strict adherence to industrial experience; however, resonating with the echoing results and style of the executive coach is important.
5. Charges
For many, the charges of the certified executive coaches will be the foremost factor of consideration. While it is a significant factor, it should not be the main factor. Like most things in life, you get what you pay for, and if your prospective coach charges a considerable fee, do consider the return on investment.
6. Your Rapport
This is the penultimate factor for consideration. The prospective coach you are considering may have the all the right attributes on paper; however, if you do not gel with the coach in a seamless none of their credentials will matter. That said, you don’t necessarily want to find someone who’s exactly like you and that you agree with everything they say. After all, a coach’s job is to challenge, as well as support you. It is probably better that they get you thinking in new ways.