Registration for C3 for Success Is Closed

Sorry, registration for the current C3 for Success program is closed; please contact Nan directly if you’d like to join the waiting list for the next C3 for Success Coaching Circle.

Join an eight-week virtual Confidential Coaching Circle limited to only six mid-career women attorneys, and master the skills and strategies you need to succeed in your legal career.  Starting April 30, 2013, and led by former law firm partner and certified executive coach Nan Joesten, the group will engage in six structured, one-hour weekly conference calls.  Each call features Nan’s brief presentation on a variety of topics (detailed at C3 for Success ), followed by group discussion of personalized action steps that Circle members are taking to reach their goals.  You will also receive two private one-hour coaching sessions with Nan in place of the group coaching call during weeks Four and Eight.  C3 culminates with each Circle member creating their personal strategic plan for the next six months, getting feedback from Circle members on your plan, and setting up your own Personal Board of Directors for ongoing encouragement and support as you pursue your goals.   For questions, or to register to join C3 for Success, contact Nan at (510) 217-8900.

Business owners and executives must now solve more problems sooner, with fewer resources, than ever before.  Rapid Evolution’s executive coaching services can help you not just survive, but thrive, in today’s challenging business environment.  No busy executive can be expected to master, on their own, every situation they’re confronted with. That’s why having a confidential “thought partner” to help you identify and leverage your strengths to greater success will help you accelerate your professional development and allow you to deliver better results than you could working alone.

How Executive Coaching Can Help You

Thankfully Dr. Seuss wasn’t right that you’re entirely on your own.  An executive coach, whether hired by your firm to work with you, or someone you retain directly, engages with you as your “thought partner” in a structured process that is goal directed by you towards your developmental objectives.

The number one reason organizations engage Nan Joesten as a coach is to develop their high potential individuals, or to smooth transitions.  Individuals also hire Nan directly to enhance their own development, or achieve particular objectives.  As organizations flatten, product cycles hit hyperspeed, and change is constant, Nan’s executive coaching can help you become a better, more relaxed, and more nimble business leader.

Executives use coaching to identify and leverage their strengths to

• Clarify business goals and priorities
• Build their emotional intelligence
• Improve communication and leadership skills
• Develop breakthrough plans to achieve stretch goals
• Stay focused on implementing a strategic plan
• Improve bottom line results
• Use time more effectively to build better balance in their lives

Research Shows That Executive Coaching Works

A 2001 study examined 100 mid- to senior-level managers at large organizations who participated in coaching, and they estimated their coaching to be worth 5.7 times the initial investment.  The benefits were both organizational (better productivity, quality, organizational strength, customer service, and retention), as well as personal (improved relationships with direct reports and peers, better teamwork, and increased job satisfaction).  An earlier study of 370 coaching participants found significant improvements in specific learning objectives that were targeted in the coaching, as rated by participant, manager and coach.  Coaching produced an average change roughly equivalent to moving from the 50^th to the 93^rd percentile of performance.  How much will executive coaching benefit you?

Emerging Leaders and Emotional Intelligence

An organization’s emerging and high potential leaders are ideal candidates for Rapid Evolution’s executive coaching focused on increasing emotional intelligence.  People who have advanced due to their technical expertise often struggle in making the transition from co-worker to manager, and the technical genius often makes for a poor boss.  Because emotional intelligence can be developed, coaching focused on emotional intelligence has a high return on investment.

Leaders wishing to develop their emotional intelligence typically begin a coaching engagement by completing a confidential formal assessment focused on leadership and various aspects of emotional intelligence, such as the Spectrum CPI 260™ Coaching Report for Leaders.  The Report provides an assessment on eighteen factors broken into five core performance areas of star performers:  Self Management, Organizational Capabilities, Team Building and Teamwork, Problem Solving, and Sustaining the Vision.  Working with Nan, the coachee then determines the four to five factors in which they wish to be a peak performer in the emerging phase of their career, and begins developing concrete action plans for accelerating their growth in these areas.

Coaching Increases The Odds of Success During Onboarding

Many executives hired for top leadership roles describe their onboarding process as “sink or swim,” which helps explain why 40% of them fail in the first 18 months.  It’s a costly breakdown for the organization, as executive turnover in year one is valued at roughly three times the executive’s salary.  And beyond the damage to the individual and the loss of realized value from talent acquisition investments, the organization must also contend with the slow erosion of confidence and the loss of talent magnet power.

Executive coaching during the onboarding process can increase the odds of a positive outcome for organizations and their executives in transition.  Rapid Evolution works with the individual leader, the new leader’s stakeholders, and their teams to optimize success by identifying the key strategic and leadership challenges and developing the specific knowledge and tactics to address them, including

• Assessing and aligning with the company and/or business unit’s established priorities, and learning the company culture
• Evaluating the team’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, and making adjustments where appropriate
• Joining up with stakeholders to build coalitions and gain their trust and support of you as a team player
• Delivering early wins to build credibility
• Committing to action plans that demonstrate progress against key business deliverables

Team Coaching

Where team members lack trust in one another or their leaders, results and morale suffer, and attrition is more likely. Most teams want to be higher performing and collaborative, but that does not guarantee the desired outcome.  Where team leaders or their key members do not have experience in strong team settings, they can benefit from Rapid Evolution’s targeted executive coaching to improve their team’s effectiveness.

Rapid Evolution develops specific coaching programs based on each team’s particular needs, but most team coaching engagements include

• Creating alignment with company and business unit values and strategic plans
• Determining clear roles and responsibilities
• Surfacing issues that are not out in the open, yet are hindering team performance
• Coaching to effectively navigate working in cross-cultural, global, or virtual teams
• Improving interpersonal communication skills, and resolving conflicts

Assessments and The Executive Coaching Process

With the coachee’s agreement, Nan’s coaching engagements typically begin some type of a confidential formal assessment, such as the Leadership Practices Inventory® multi-rater 360 assessment, the Myers Briggs Type Instrument® (Step II), or the Spectrum CPI 260™ Coaching Report for Leaders.  An assessment helps the executive better understand their preferences, attitudes, and behaviors in key dimensions of management and leadership, and is an efficient way for them to understand and capitalize on their personal strengths, target areas for further development, set goals, and plan action steps.  The Spectrum CPI 260™ Coaching Report for Leaders is a particularly useful assessment for executives who want to enhance their emotional intelligence through the use of coaching.

After the initial assessment of an individual’s inventory of social and emotional preferences, Nan inspires emerging leaders to identify their strengths and strategize how best to leverage those abilities to deliver better results. Clients determine their top opportunities for growth, and develop an action plan to accelerate their development in those areas.