BOOST Leadership Coaching Webinar
BOOST’s latest webinar was hosted by Meg O’Hara, Director of Engagement at govmates. It was all about leadership coaching’s impact on retention and profitability for government contractors. Wendy Ramos and Carolyn McKinney, both highly experienced and certified coaches from BOOST LLC, shared their insights and strategies on how “leadership coaching” can drive success in GovCon firms.
What is Leadership Coaching?
Leadership Coaching, from BOOST’s perspective, is an individual professional development activity designed to enhance the coachee’s performance, much like we see in the athletic world. Coachees are identified for a variety of reasons, typically targeting high-potentials and/or successors that meet the company’s future talent needs. It’s important to note that coaching in this context is NOT a punishment or something for employees on PIPs. Coaching starts with identifying the coachee’s business goals, often annual goals as part of the performance management process and is centered around helping them achieve these objectives more effectively by building strengths in leadership competencies. Assessments and stakeholder feedback frequently aid in identifying specific coaching goals as the overall framework for the coaching engagement.
Leadership Coaching vs. Executive Coaching: Do You Need Both?
Wendy and Carolyn discussed how leadership coaching and executive coaching serve distinctly different purposes even though they both play crucial roles in professional development. Executive coaching is typically aimed at senior-level executives and involves a significant investment to address strategic challenges and enhance leadership capabilities at the top of an organization. As Carolyn explains, “Coaching sessions for C-suite players are typically more fluid, with the coach as a sounding board and covering such areas as company culture, talent development and key business decisions.” On the other hand, leadership coaching is geared towards next-level leaders or refining leadership behaviors that are critical to top performance. Carolyn notes that “the best companies recognize the role that coaching can play in building the talent pipeline of the future. And coaching is a great way to retain top talent; a real demonstration of a company’s commitment towards career growth.”
While coaching goals and sessions may look different for executives and next-level leadership, they are complementary. Wendy emphasized, “Coaching is very much based in the present, focusing on key objectives, goals, action, and accountability.” Investing in both helps an organization enhance its current leadership while also developing future leaders, driving overall growth, and ensuring long-term success.
Key Takeaways that will get your Leaders to High Performance
- Similar to coaching for athletes, coaching enhances job-specific skills at any level, improves team dynamics, and boosts retention.
- Coaches help define and develop the skills needed to meet today’s challenges and for advancement to higher-level positions. This might even be high-performing individual contributors, who show potential for next-level roles.
- External coaches bring different perspectives and experience. “Chemistry” between the coach and coachee is key and typically takes place through pre-engagement meet and greets.
- Coaching is particularly beneficial during organizational changes, leadership transitions, or for high-potential employees.
- Coaching delivers both tangible and intangible benefits: Tangible benefits include increased metrics such as productivity, solid decision-making, and improved retention, while intangible benefits might be areas such as team dynamics and employee engagement.
- The coaching process is tailored to the specific needs and challenges of different organizations and individuals.
- Investing in both executive coaching and leadership coaching strengthens existing leadership and cultivates the next generation of senior leaders, promoting overall growth and long-term success.
Are You Considering Leadership Coaching?
BOOST LLC offers exceptional coaching services for government contractors. Our experienced professionals focus on delivering tangible results and preparing for leadership succession. Our customized programs help teams navigate challenges, improve leadership effectiveness, and achieve sustainable growth.
If you are interested in learning more about what kind of leadership coaching fits you and how it can benefit your organization, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
