• Our Coaching Process

    In today’s extremely competitive business climate, it is no longer sufficient for managers to do well – they must excel.  At ExecuQuest, we are dedicated to ensuring that key executives successfully rise to meet such new standards in their field.  For that reason we have created EXTEND, an individual management development process designed to recognize an executive’s unique skills and address his or her developmental needs.

    EXTEND provides senior executives the opportunity to identify their strengths and weaknesses and reflect upon their performance as leaders in their organization. During the development process, Learners elucidate their own identity within their organization and recognize the impact that their actions have on fellow co-workers and on the company as a whole.  EXTEND focuses on strengthening strategic competencies required of senior executives to guide the organization towards its vision, as well as discovering techniques for achieving a balance between a rewarding career and a satisfying personal life.

    Contracting Phase

    The first step of our process assures consistency and cohesive communication between the Learner, the Sponsor/Superior, and the consultant.

    • The ExecuQuest Senior Consultant meets one on one with the Sponsor/Superior of the Learner to understand his or her motivation for applying EXTEND and the desired outcomes of the coaching process.
    • The ExecuQuest Senior Consultant meets one on one with the Learner to develop a sense of the Learner’s expectations and his or her understanding of the coaching process.
    • The ExecuQuest Senior Consultant meets simultaneously with both the Sponsor/Superior and the Learner to discuss the shared expectations of the process, to establish the role of the Sponsor/Superior in regards to the process, to define accountability of the Learner during the process, and to address any outstanding questions or concerns regarding the EXTEND process.

    Discovery Phase

    This 2-step phase of the process is intended to identify and help the Learner reflect, understand, and integrate his/her:

    • Confirmed Strengths: Skills, competencies, and/or individual characteristics that are recognized by the Learner and those in his or her significant network (boss, peers, direct reports, bosses boss, reports to direct reports, etc.).
    • Unrecognized Strengths: Skills, competencies, and/or characteristics that other people observe as strengths, but that had not previously recognized by the Learner. In revealing unrecognized strengths, one can begin to acknowledge, explore, and utilize them to their full potential.
    • Stumbling Blocks: Areas recognized by the Learner and by his or her co-workers as needing improvement. The development process for stumbling blocks is often straightforward and simply requires specific coaching or a tailored development program.
    • Blind Spots: Areas that others describe as weak or problematic, of which the Learner was previously unaware. Blind spots provide major opportunities for growth which involves coming to terms with one’s blind spots, exploring their sources and impacts, and discovering how to reduce the gap between one’s self-perception and the way he or she is perceived by others.

    In order to realize those objectives of the Discovery Phase, the following steps are taken:

    Step 1 – Data Gathering

    • The ExecuQuest Senior Consultant meets with the Learner for approximately 6 hours.  During this meeting the consultant, together with the Learner, explores the background, history, assumption, values and any information from the Learner that is seen as important/relevant to the coaching process.
    • The Learner applies a series of self-assessment tools designed to reveal his or her self-perception, natural tendencies, and leadership/social styles.
    • The ExecuQuest Senior Consultant conducts up to fourteen one-on-one interviews of up to 1 hour with members of the Learner’s “significant others” network to gather information regarding his or her perceived image, impact, and the overall effect he or she has on his or her coworkers.
    • Peer Feedback: Up to 20 members of the Learner’s “significant others” network complete two online surveys (Leadership 360 Feedback and Leadership Style Inventory (LSI-2)) in order to evaluate consistencies and inconsistencies in the Learner’s behavioral and style patterns. 
    • Observations: The ExecuQuest Senior Consultant shadows the Learner for up to 6 hours during a regular workday, attending meetings and other activities deemed by the Learner and his/her Sponsor/Superior as relevant for the consultant to gain meaningful exposure to Learner’s style and effect on others.

    Step 2 – Feedback with Learner (End of Discovery Phase)

    • The ExecuQuest Senior Consultant meets offsite for a 2 – 4 hour feedback session with the Learner. During these sessions the ExecuQuest Senior Consultant acts as a conduit of information and as a source of reflection and understanding for the Learner.

    Reflection Phase

    Subsequent to the 4-week discovery phase, the ExecuQuest Senior Consultant conducts 45 minute to 1 hour weekly telephone dialogues with the Learner.  These dialogues facilitate the application of the awareness and reflection methods developed during the previous phases of the EXTEND process in situations that occur in his/her day-to-day life.

    Action Planning Phase

    After the reflection phase, the ExecuQuest Senior Consultant meets for 4 hours with the Learner to help him/her address and plan learning/growth opportunities.

    Ongoing Coaching

    During the following 3 months, the ExecuQuest Senior Consultant and Learner hold hour long monthly phone conversation to continue the coaching process as the Learner moves forward with his/her professional/personal development plan.

    Follow-Up Meetings with Sponsor/Superior and Learner

    During these meetings, the ExecuQuest Senior Consultant will meet with the Sponsor/Superior to discuss changes and progress demonstrated by the Learners, as well as checking in on areas that require further improvement.  Following the meeting with the Sponsor/Superior, the ExecuQuest Senior Consultant will meet with both the Sponsor/Superior and the Learner to review and compare the original the process and desired outcomes with the actual process and real outcomes, and to determine further actions.