How to Be Both Lean and Profitable

From The Cambridge Perspective - March, 2009

In today’s economy, managers must run lean and profitable operations. Often, this involves leadership challenges such as:

• controlling costs and focusing employees on bottom line accountability;
• being productive with fewer resources; and
• maintaining effective employee teamwork and morale while dealing with layoffs and restructuring.

Profiting from Executive Coaching
in an Uncertain Economy

Many businesses are facing a choice: Identify, develop and reward their top talent or risk losing them to the growing number of competitors who are hungry for high quality, experienced performers who will be successful in one of the most uncertain economic periods in history.

In difficult times, it’s even more critical to provide leaders with the support they need to perform at their best. As a result, more businesses are using executive coaches to support leaders who are committed to achieving highly profitable operations.

An executive coach works with a leader to identify and deliberately practice new leadership behaviours. Assessment and 360˚ tools can help to streamline the process of discovering and identifying top priorities.

The critical first step is for executives to reflect on how well they inspire employees to work at a higher level of quality, commitment and effectiveness.

Once an executive commits to specific goals, coaching ensures that they maintain the focus, intensity and perseverance required to realize lasting results. For many, this type of focus can be difficult to achieve alone.

Benefits of Executive Coaching

The benefits of executive coaching include:

• greater accountability and sharper focus on high impact goals;
• enhanced emotional intelligence leading to stronger relationships; and
• improved anticipation and readiness to tackle ever-changing business demands.

An executive coach can also assist in developing specific leadership or managerial competencies, working through a problem or conflict, improving communications or building a better team, developing strategies and blueprints for change, and establishing a balance between work and personal life that keeps executives performing at their best.
In addition, coaches help to model a process of inspiring improvement that can be replicated throughout the company.

Quality, Consistency, and Accountability in Coaching

Many organizations are interested in coaching, but worry about a lack of control over the direction, measurement and quality.

Coaching must benefit both the corporation and the executive. To evaluate coaching programs, you should be sure there is a process to link the individual’s development to the organization’s corporate goals.In addition, consider the balance between confidentiality and accountability. Coaching sessions are confidential, but coaches should track executives’ progress and help executives build a success model that can be shared with appropriate people.

The level of comfort and confidence the executive has with the coach is also a critical determinant of success. A meeting should be arranged prior to signing an agreement to confirm that there is good chemistry between the two parties. References should give you a sense of what to expect, in terms of the coach’s style and methods.

Executive coaching programs should also have a process to track executives’ progress. To realize outstanding results, top performing business leaders will focus on a specific improvement until it is automatic under mission critical conditions. Our proprietary process keeps the coached individual focused on performing and practicing the desired behaviours until they produce lasting results.

Lean & Profitable Operations

Executive coaching improves the performance of high potential leaders whose effectiveness significantly impacts the results of the organization.

By supporting your key leaders, you can dramatically improve their ability to keep employees focused on business priorities, work through challenges, and achieve lean and profitable results in 2009.

Cambridge Management Planning’s executive coaching programs focus on identifying and connecting personal goals to corporate objectives, and use the GOALTracker online system to provide real-time reporting and feedback.

Our structured, comprehensive process provides rapid and lasting results, and allows you to measure the quality of coaching and the return on your investment.

Call one of our partners for more information at 416-484-8408 or visit our web site at http://www.cambridgemgmt.com.

Cambridge Management Planning has been providing client-focused
Executive Search and Management Consulting services
across Canada and internationally since 1976.
124 Merton Street, Suite 509, Toronto, ON Canada M4S 2Z2
Telephone: 416-484-8408  Email: mail@cambridgemgmt.com