Executive coaching truly adds value when it equips leaders to think more consciously: about their vision and how to accelerate change within themselves and their teams.Coaching enables an individual to understand themselves better. Therefore the aim is to help them grow their capabilities, set significant goals and be responsible and accountable. Not only for their own but also their team’s performance.
We live in times where business can no longer ignore their impact on the environment or the communities in which they operate. The defining factor for successful companies in future will be having strong values and being firm in what they stand for. Their success will depend on more than just their products and services.
Extensive work has been done by Richard Barrett around organisations and values. Take a look at the video of his presentation at the Conscious Capitalism Conference, 2012 USA. Richard is a thought leader on values so you may want to look at his website to see more of what he talks and writes about.
It is very evident that the old way of doing business is no longer relevant. The divide between the rich and the poor is growing. The environment is being stripped in the name of profitability. This is having a significant negative impact on communities, plant and animal life. Communities are suffering enormously due to the impact of practices by greedy business men.
Executives now already need to formulate a more sustainable model of doing business. There is a need globally, for a new kind of leadership: one that is socially responsible, acts as an environmental custodian and one that facilitates employee fulfillment.
Examples of our Current Reality
Case 1: An executive works for an international oil company. He is becoming progressively more frustrated by the way the company is operating: purely profit driven at the expense of the local community. The executive raises issues continuously with the Board. He has no support from his colleagues. The latter are either fearful of jeopardising their current positions or fear the reaction of the Board. As a result, they refrain from voicing their disagreement. The executive says he will not give up the fight. He will persist in finding new ways of influencing the Board members.
Case 2: A consultant does contract work for international agencies who build infrastructure in third world countries. He is pressurised for economic reasons to continue with a project that he feels is questionable ethically. Inevitably there are problems later, which he anticipated. Instead of the agency taking responsibility they quietly terminate his contract, with no conscience regarding the impact of their role in the process. This decision may impact negatively on the consultant’s ability to be employed on other projects for international agencies.
In his book Conscious Business: How to Build Value through Values Fred Kofman writes: “To change a culture, the leaders have to change the messages people receive about what they must do to fit in. When people understand that there are new requirements for belonging, they adjust their behavior accordingly. Cultural change starts with a new set of messages. Culture-changing communication is nonverbal—the “doing” rather than the “saying”—and comes most vividly from leadership behaviors. The behavior of leaders exemplifies what people with power—and those who aspire to have it—are supposed to do. A small change in a senior manager’s behavior can send a big message.”
Executive coaching will help you explore the current footprint of your company. What does your company currently stand for and how is this reflected in its vision, culture and values? Through executive coaching you can define the future direction, vision, values and ideal culture for your organisation that will lead to a sustainable and responsible business.
Executive coaching offers you the opportunity to become a progressive leader. It enables you to transform your company into one that operates with greater awareness. In research I did with successful executives it was clear that very few of them reflect on their own behaviour. Those who do, behave in a more mindful and considered way.
Coaching provides you with a space where you can slow down, become more aware of your decisions and actions and the effects thereof. Executive coaching enables you to recognise that you have choices as opposed to just reacting to events. With this greater awareness executive coaching will help you to work consciously toward a progressive vision. It will equip you and your team to assume accountability for the impact you have on the world.
Business coaching brings greater awareness of the pivotal role you play in shaping your company’s vision and the way you choose to do business. It helps you reflect, explore, re-envision a new world and a new way of operating as a business in the world. What can you do to lead more consciously?