The Difference Between Personal and Executive Coaching

The term coach first appeared as part of the English vocabulary in the 1500s, and the meaning was documented as carriage. If we compare the root meaning of the word with today usage, it still holds the same meaning. Coaching helps to transfer a person from a position he is in to a position he desires to be in. Business coaching helps an executive to grow, learn and gear up for future success. Executive coaching is a coaching for business executives. It is usually done on a one-to-one basis, rather than coaching in groups.

The pressure on the executives is ever-increasing and it is imperative that every executive adjusts himself to the daily demands of the rapidly changing business scenario. Of course, if he wants to succeed, he will have to successfully cope with various demanding situations, which is not possible every time. The executive business coach first assesses the personality traits of the client and how he reacts and handles various situations. Thereafter, he starts working on his strategy. There are four categories of executive coaching, namely:

- Coaching for skills.

- Coaching for performance.

- Coaching for development.

- Coaching for an executives agenda.

Executive coaching tries to cover all these, by exploring the executives work style and work environment. A research is first conducted to know more about the executives attitude and perception and then the strategies are designed to match his strengths with the challenges faced. Alternately, the obstacles are also examined, to find out the areas of weakness and design a strategy to cope with them, without pushing too much. A series of assessments is conducted to make the person understand himself, check out reactions and behavior, thus making him aware of the applied strategies to be successful.

Executive coaching is usually telephonic and offers you the flexibility of receiving your training at home or at the office. Now-a-days, executive coaching is becoming a very popular concept and is offered by companies, as well as individuals. The executive coach does not act like your traditional swimming instructor. He works with you to handle the challenges you and your partners face. All the information divulged to an executive coach is strictly confidential. An executive business coach acts as a very efficient soundboard, while at the same time he helps the executives to explore their organizational goals, ideas and vision.

Personal coaching has more to do with the improvement of the life of an executive, like his health and mediums of entertainment. The executive coach helps in gearing up people to meet sales targets or people management training. Executive coaching helps managers to learn about their weaknesses and how to overcome them. The biggest benefit is that executive coaching makes it possible to discuss every issue faced in a safe and confidential environment. Executive coaching concentrates on leadership training, financial awareness, management training, time management, project management and team building.

Leaders must have the ability to assimilate different talents within the team and make them work in harmony to derive the maximum output, without overburdening them. An executive coach helps them in doing the same, by making them successful managers with a definite and time-framed business vision.