Seven Degrees Group

Executive coaching balances a leaders need to learn (which may mean becoming vulnerable) with managing their image as a leader. This style of coaching often involves leadership assessment and 360 conversations. Issues discussed include; personal development, team development, leadership skills, managing conflict and business strategy. There are many models that are useful to use to facilitate the coaching and provide a framework during the sessions.

A coach works with a client to help them achieve a specific goal, or outcome in the future. The coach will ask questions, which allows the client to discover the answers for themselves, learn and progress. The primary purpose of coaching is to raise awareness, encourage responsibility and facilitate change.

Research by Daniel Goleman, suggests 90% of one’s performance effectiveness is due to emotional nous, rather than technical expertise. Emotional Intelligence coaching will lead to sustainable behavioural changes that will improve the way the client manages themself and the way they work with others.  Emotional Intelligence can be developed and is essential to success in the workplace. Emotional Intelligence coaching, or training, focuses on intrapersonal intelligence (self management) and interpersonal intelligence (relationship management).

NLP is Neuro-linguistic Programming. Neuro – how our neurology processes information. Linguistic – how we communicate with ourselves and others  and Programming – how we do what we do and why we do it . Simply put NLP is the study of what we think, say and do.

NLP is built upon a systematic approach to understanding the filtering process we all use when taking in what happens to us. These filters may include beliefs, values, past experiences and languages – this filtering process means we create in our minds our own map of what we have experienced. An effective map is one that supports the achievement of our goals. An ineffective part of the map gets in the way of the achievement of the same goals.

NLP is also concerned with how an ineffective part of the map can be adjusted to become effective. NLP uses many techniques for systematically changing areas such as; behaviour, beliefs, habits and negative emotions. NLP therefore looks at the deeper unconscious structures in a Client that may hold them back or stop them achieving what they want in the future.  By having conversations with someone at an unconscious it becomes the science of rapid change.

When the client knows what they need to learn, a consultant gives advice and may provide options to choose from and discuss which one is most appropriate for the client. A consultant brings knowledge and expertise in the areas of work.

A mentor brings their range of expertise, knowledge and experience, which is passed on when appropriate, to assist and support the client. Typically mentoring occurs inside an organisation with a more experienced person mentoring a less experienced person.

Training is about equipping people with new skills and knowledge to help their personal and /or professional development. When the training combines knowledge and skills training, with beliefs, attitudes and habits, the training is at its most effective. Tailoring training for the audience also increases the effectiveness, to ensure that participant’s needs are met.  Using accelerated learning techniques helps to embed the learning as does coaching after the training. Olivero et al looked at the effects of executive coaching with a group of 31 managers. After management development training, their productivity had increased by 22.4%. When the training was followed up with coaching, the productivity rose to 88%, a further increase of 65%. This demonstrates that coaching is important after training to ensure the knowledge and skills acquired during the training are actually applied back in the workplace.

When the unknown becomes known, you are better able to manage your behaviour.  In development, psychometric assessments or personality tests, can be useful to uncover natural strengths for your current or future role.  These tests can provide clues as to why you may or may not be working well as a Leader, or in a team. They can measure your way of doing things and the way you interact with your environment and other people. The tests can also uncover how well you handle stress, so that interventions can be better designed to ensure your are supported in your continued success.

When Sales teams increase their performance by experiencing a performance breakthrough, we know this will significantly impact the bottom line. We work with a high value assessment tool to enable us to measure whats stopping your sales team achieving more and then designing a performance breakthrough intervention to lift results.

The main purpose of receiving 360 feedback is to enable the individuals to continue to grow and develop as a manager or leader. Tangible feedback allows people to consider how they are performing and to enable them to transfer their thoughts on the feedback into tangible results based actions. The focus is on sustained performance change and the benefits their proposed actions will bring to themselves, their teams the organisation.