Coaching
The sporting world is full of examples of coaching but the role of executive coaching in the public sector is less well defined. We have been delivering individual coaching for managers including Chief Executives and Chief Officers for the past four years.
Coaching is often seen as a deficit model, as a way to fix things, but the most effective use is for people who are already high performers. An Executive Coach engages with the manager to work through the issues that concern them and help them achieve their full potential.
We have a team of experienced coaches who all have experience of working with senior managers in local government and understand the challenges they face.
Coaching acknowledges that the challenges Chief Executives and senior managers face are not going to be resolved by taught programmes alone. For many managers, coaching provides the time and space to work on their own dilemmas as leaders, and discuss the issues which they feel unable to resolve within the organisation. One of the many managers who took advantage of our coaching service said:
”For me, performance coaching is a vital element of the individual development process and is essential if we, as senior managers and leaders, are to make the best possible impact through our skills and abilities to the benefit of our organisations and the people who work alongside us. All senior managers, and by association their peers and colleagues, deserve this level of support. In my experience the benefits for all involved are worth the investment.”
Neil Jenkinson, Head of Culture and Major Events Yorkshire Forward, Regional Development Agency.
Raising the Game at the Organisation Level – Developing a Coaching Culture
To complement the individual coaching support we offer, we also work with authorities to develop their approach and strategy to coaching and focus on developing the notion of manager as coach. A key part of developing the capacity in organisations rests upon managers’ ability to develop the talent that already exists within the organisation.
Coaching is increasingly recognised as an essential leadership tool and we have delivered programmes to provide senior managers with the skills and opportunity to practice as a coach. Many of the development activities offered to assist managers manage employees’ performance rely on target setting and monitoring, rather than a deeper psychological understanding of how people improve their own performance. The underpinning approach of our programmes comes from the work of Timothy Galway, author of the “Inner Game of Work”, which provides a framework of how to improve performance.
“In Oldham we believe that the Coaching Programme that we have undertaken with senior managers has played a critical part in building organisational capacity and driving Service Improvement. We believe there is significant merit in others looking to the role coaching can play in their organisation's development strategy."
Andrew Kilburn, Chief Executive, Oldham MBC
For further information please contact Kelli Pickford, Director of Learning and Improvement, on 0161 214 7102, or click the link to e-mail Kelli.
Kelli Pickford
For further reading, please click link below.
Coaching Reference Books