Every person has the potential to live the life they want, professionally and personally. But with the constant change and complexities of today’s workplace and the world, it can be challenging to have clarity and focus on what matters most. Leaders must deliver results while juggling obligations to their teams and their colleagues all while balancing their own personal and professional needs.
Whether you are a CEO, company leader or department manager, your h3 coach will help you navigate these complexities through an individualized process designed to enhance your leadership ability, accelerate your personal growth and contribute to organizational success. Through our collaborative partnership, you will learn to recognize and leverage your unique strengths and gifts as well as overcome obstacles and blind spots. We will help you plot a course for your success and support you every step of the way, providing insight, inspiration and energy for your journey.
What can h3 clients expect during a leadership and management coaching engagement?
Coaching sessions provide a safe, confidential, nonjudgmental space for clients to be introspective, creative and focus solely on their own personal and professional development. Typically, a client comes to us with a presenting issue, challenge or area of growth. While potential scenarios are endless, the following are themes we commonly see with many occurring simultaneously:
- They are seasoned leaders and managers would like to be more competent in their roles.
- They have stagnated or feel stuck in their current role and know something is not quite right but they aren’t sure where to start.
- They are newly promoted leaders or managers who would like support in their growth and development.
- They wish to improve specific skills such as communication, conflict, interpersonal relationships, confidence and leadership presence.
- They would like to be more effective in leading their teams and managing direct reports.
- They are overwhelmed and at risk of burnout.
- They are working toward a promotion or career change.
- They would simply like a thought partner to help them think through approaches and decisions in a variety of areas they encounter as a leader or manager.
The common denominator in each of these situations is that the client would like for things to be different in the future than they are right now. Although coaching is a highly personalized process and each client has a unique path, h3 follows a basic approach for a typical six-month coaching engagement.
Client Discovery Profile and Introductory Session(s)
So that we can learn more about clients and their most pressing needs, each client completes a comprehensive profile regarding a variety of topics. During the first coaching session, the client and coach explore the answers in more detail, identifying areas of growth and change that are most important to the client. Initial, broad goals start to materialize. If applicable, the client and coach may meet with the client’s manager or human resources representative to receive input on areas for development.
Research and Assessment
Most h3 coaching engagements involve the administration of one or more relevant assessments to help clients gain in-depth insight by revealing strengths, potential obstacles, blind spots and opportunities.
Although not required, these assessments can provide the coach and client with essential insights about the client’s thinking and behavioral traits, helping the client and coach quickly identify areas of focus for the coaching engagement. Typical assessments include the EQ-i 2.0 (emotional intelligence), strengths profiles and various profiles from the Everything DiSC suite. Depending on the circumstances, the coach may also recommend a 360 survey or interviews with a client’s stakeholders including managers, colleagues, direct reports, customers and, when relevant, friends and family. Typically, the coach recommends an initial assessment(s) and may make further recommendations for additional assessments as the coaching progresses.
Action Planning and Accountability
As the coaching engagement progresses, this is where the magic happens. Coaching conversations shift to articulating specific areas of growth and developing strategies to enhance learning and development. Through personal reflection, thought-provoking exercises, personal experiments and assigned reading, the coach helps the client cultivate behaviors that support their goals and engage with stakeholders more effectively. Additionally, the coach helps the client uncover challenges that may be impeding progress and work to overcome them. The coach serves as an important accountability partner for the client, helping keep the agreed upon coaching goals and action steps a priority. This phase is non-linear, and may twist and turn as the client gains deeper insight about their values, thought patterns, behaviors and unique gifts.
Progress Evaluation and Milestone Planning
As the coaching engagement comes to a conclusion, the last session or two focus on capturing the progress that the client has made over the past few months. The coach and client work together to identify some next steps the client will take on their own to continue their learning and development. The coach will schedule a final session approximately three months later to help the client crystalize their progress, identify barriers and commit to some action steps to continue the forward momentum.
Typical coaching sessions are an hour and occur bi-weekly. Longer sessions may occur during the discovery phase. The cadence and length of sessions are always customized to meet the needs of the client.
Why h3 Strategies?
h3 Strategies leverages the wisdom of nearly 50 years of combined experience in leadership, communication and team development for their clients. Our unique professional experiences, combined with our coaching expertise, allows us to provide a highly customized coaching program unique to each client.