© Copyright Acquisition International 2025 - All Rights Reserved.

Article Image - Executive Coaching – the Secret of Sustained Success
Posted 4th May 2016

Executive Coaching – the Secret of Sustained Success

Executive Coaching helps inspire leaders to transform themselves and their people to improve business results and performance, by developing skills, confidence and focus.

Mouse Scroll AnimationScroll to keep reading

Let us help promote your business to a wider following.

Executive Coaching – the Secret of Sustained Success
Image

Executive Coaching – the Secret of Sustained Success

Executive Coaching helps inspire leaders to transform themselves and their people to improve business results and performance, by developing skills, confidence and focus. One of the most effective techniques available for development, its use has increased dramatically over the past decade. No longer seen as an executive perk it is becoming a crucial area of challenge and support, adding a clear positive return on investment. However, as with any rapidly growing industry, the ‘coaching business’ can offer variable quality and results. There is no ‘one size fits all’ and it is important to get the chemistry right, regarding client needs and the coaching style used. Dr Phil Bardzil is a chartered business psychologist and experienced coach of 20 years. He explains how executive coaching can help leaders to develop an edge: building on strengths and exerting a positive influence on their teams and wider organizational effectiveness.

The first ‘secret of sustained success’, in executive coaching, is to establish clear outcomes of importance to work towards. The Psychologica Model™ has been developed from extensive research into leadership behaviours and their direct impact on organizational climate and, indirectly, on customer service experiences. This provides a coaching framework to identify where leaders can best align their talents, to fulfill both personal and organizational objectives. The most effective leaders establish a balance between strategic thinking (blue) and ‘real world’ activities (red), enabled by engagement with key partners and stakeholders (yellow). Effective coaches help to integrate these key elements, through enhancing positive behaviors: communication skills (green); organizational skills (purple) and emotional management (orange). Resulting from European Union funded research in a range of  sectors, these success factors emerged as crucial to leaders, staff and customers alike. Use of a validated model allows executive coaching at the individual level to be integrated successfully with wider team and organizational development outcomes.

Anyone can call themselves a ‘coach’ so it is important to check on professional credibility, through established qualifications or affiliations to respected associations. A second ‘secret of sustained success’ is to ensure professional credentials and, ideally, competence in the use of psychometric instruments. Coaching effectiveness can be enhanced if supported by use of personality measures or 360° Analysis (where colleagues provide assessments of performance, using on-line surveys). The Psychologica Model™ forms a basis for a range of diagnostic tools and related coaching aids which are available to support coaching relationships. It has proven links to a number of established development approaches, so can complement existing HR practices.

Executive roles demand a wide range of skills and abilities. Few individuals excel in all areas but coaching can be used to balance performance and help identify the appropriate leadership skills to adopt under different circumstances. For example, the ‘blue zone’, of intellectual capabilities, includes: developing vision; setting strategy; and managing complexity. The ‘red zone’, of tangible outcomes, includes: crisis management; motivation; change management and performance focus. Clearly, there is some overlap between coaching and management consultancy in some of these areas. Consultancy tends to focus on structural and transactional tasks, while coaching usually emphasises transformational change – creating a ‘safe space’ for leaders to reflect on personal issues, with the benefit of immediate and honest feedback. Business is largely about people and the ‘yellow zone’, of emotional intelligence, is crucial to developing leadership success. This includes demonstrating self-confidence in: public speaking; challenging effectively; managing relationships; exerting influence; working collaboratively; adapting to change; and managing stress. Development in each of the three core ‘zones’ requires a different approach and the third ‘secret to success’ is to find a coach who can flex their style appropriately, according to client needs.

Research shows clearly that ‘strengths based’ approaches, where coaches help clients to build on existing attributes, provide a better return on investment than focusing only on areas of under-performance. While there is a need to be honest and realistic, dwelling on negatives can be a waste of resources and can undermine self-confidence. Executive coaches are not just for ‘fixing people’ but can also ‘make good better’. A fourth consideration is to choose a coach who practices positive psychology and can help individuals use strengths and preferences to enhance potential in areas of challenge. The aim is to stretch clients and shift them out of comfort zones, but to do so with empathy and support, leaving them in a better place. Often this is through re-framing issues and facilitating fresh insights.

Executive coaching continues to grow globally. We see increasing interest from the financial sector which, despite its relative size and economic importance, is actually vulnerable. Most banks are overleveraged, have incentives which reinforce counter-productive behaviours, are at risk from new technologies, and have failed to regain the trust of customers. Organizations which develop authentic values-led leadership will have a clear advantage over competitors. Executive coaching is key to achieving this.

Dr Phil Bardzil has a PhD in Organizational Psychology. He has experience of leadership, as MD of a multi-national subsidiary, and also as director of a research centre in Manchester Business School (University of Manchester), where he developed the Psychologica Model™. Phil has written a number of academic papers and presented at numerous international conferences. Psychologica Ltd is based in the UK and works with organizations in all sectors. Webbased technologies allow executive coaching to take place internationally and coaching products are available from regional distributors. 

Company: Psychologica LTD
Name: Dr Phil Bardzil
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.psychologica.co.uk
Address: 9-10 Bolton Street,
Ramsbottom, Bury,
Lancs, BL0 9HX
Telephone: +44 0161 883 2879

Categories: Leadership, Strategy


You Might Also Like
Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Bruno Maisonnier sells stake in Aldebaran Robotics
Innovation
01/04/2015Bruno Maisonnier sells stake in Aldebaran Robotics

SoftBank increases its interest in Aldebaran to 95%

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP Advise Hormel Foods’s acquisition of Applegate
Finance
15/07/2015Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP Advise Hormel Foods’s acquisition of Applegate

Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP Advise Hormel Foods's acquisition of Applegate (Hormel’s largest deal $775 million)

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
AI Ad Specs
Strategy
19/05/2016AI Ad Specs

AI Ad Specs

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Under the patronage of the Central Bank of Nigeria Pio-Tech sponsors Finnovex West Africa summit
Leadership
31/10/2019Under the patronage of the Central Bank of Nigeria Pio-Tech sponsors Finnovex West Africa summit

Pio-Tech, the leading provider of Banking Business Intelligence and Performance Management Solutions in the Middle East and Africa Regions, served as the Silver Sponsor of the leading summit on Financial Services Innovation and Excellence “Finnovex West Afri

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
BPO and Technology Acquires top Provider in Marketing Communications
Finance
20/01/2016BPO and Technology Acquires top Provider in Marketing Communications

Headquartered in New York City, Smart Source's acquisition allows these two dynamic companies to combine best practices, services and technologies to offer the most elevated client experience in brand management, marketing and communications to clients nationw

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Organisational security and the hidden risk
Strategy
20/01/2021Organisational security and the hidden risk

The security needs of businesses vary greatly dependent on the sector they are in. Despite the varying requirements, each business’ broader approach to security should follow a similar format where vital assets – those that needs to be protected - are surr

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
How much are companies spending on employee breaks?
Leadership
12/07/2019How much are companies spending on employee breaks?

Keeping a close eye on your companies’ finances is an important role – but do you know how much your employees are costing you when there taking a break? Inn Supplies, leading supplier of paper coffee cups, looks in detail at the costs:

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Learn How to Trade Crypto
Finance
12/11/2021Learn How to Trade Crypto

What's behind cryptocoins trading? Learning what is behind cryptocoins trading so that you could trade crypto coins effectively, profitably.

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Innovation is the Centre of Nucleus’ Success
Innovation
13/03/2018Innovation is the Centre of Nucleus’ Success

Nucleus is an alternative business finance provider, set up by Chirag Shah with a clear vision to disrupt the status quo of SME lending with a finance business that served a long-underserved part of the market.



Our Trusted Brands

Acquisition International is a flagship brand of AI Global Media. AI Global Media is a B2B enterprise and are committed to creating engaging content allowing businesses to market their services to a larger global audience. We have a number of unique brands, each of which serves a specific industry or region. Each brand covers the latest news in its sector and publishes a digital magazine and newsletter which is read by a global audience.

Arrow