Executive Coaching has come a long way from the days when it was used primarily as an improvement tool to correct ineffective managerial behavior. Now leading companies have recognized its critical role in developing a leadership pipeline and proactively use it to enhance the leadership skills of their senior management. There is no longer a top-down imposition of coaching, nor a resistance from executives to this guidance. Coaching has evolved to become a more refined concept of developing an individual’s own self-drive and ownership. It has become personal.

When employees rise to a position of authority in the company, it is time for them to start taking more responsibility for their team, department and organizational success i.e. for the performance of others. Processes, best practices, and policies are followed and results are only achieved with and through people.

But people are not always predictable (and occasionally not always logical). Something Dale Carnegie had said in this regard, rings true here: “When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.” How is a leader to tap into the resourcefulness of his team and help unleash a “go-beyond” attitude? He first needs to understand what drives him, tap into his own reserves and build his own strategic vision.

Of course, a large amount of motivation comes from within an individual. Each employee is responsible for collaborating and contributing consistently. But, it is still the responsibility of senior management to create a work environment where this is encouraged to happen. For leaders who take this seriously, it is important to examine the balance between what you need to execute vs. what you are leading others to do. Executive Coaching helps you here- to identify and leverage your leadership style to get the best results for yourself and your organization. At Dale Carnegie Training, we use a concept called “Innerview” to help these experienced professionals open the lines of communication and build trust. When done right, this guidance helps you learn how to inspire and motivate those around you to become enthusiastic supporters of the corporate mission.

A general argument against executive coaching is that the results are hard to link to the sessions or that the value is difficult to quantify. In team interventions, participants can compare themselves to the other learners and benchmark themselves. But with an Executive Coach, it is necessary to turn the process inward for the coachee. This does not imply that these sessions are vague with nebulous outcomes. Defining desired behaviors specifically and setting up clear steps and timelines to reach objectives all help in adding measurability to the process.

Executive Coaching is still evolving as a concept, especially in India where more and more companies are using it as a way to retain their top talent. In fact, it is increasingly being demanded by performance focused employees, determined to set the standard. With younger managers rising in the ranks and the surge of start-ups led by highly intelligent, but moderately experienced entrepreneurs, we can only see the need for Executive Coaching increasing. As the face of the average leader gets younger, so too will we see the profile of an ideal executive coach transform. To build greater connect and longer term engagements with their clients, Executive Coaches will need to start applying modern measurement tools and analytical thinking to their own process to appeal to these data-driven leaders and showcase results.

“To be realistic today is to be visionary.” —Hubert Humphrey

So if you or your company are thinking about opting for Executive Coaching, be encouraged by the fact that this opportunity has advanced greatly to become one of the most comprehensive, performance-centric and effective ways to get leaders confident in themselves and thereby in their capacity to execute the company’s vision.