Can you describe a moment in your coaching career that truly epitomized the power and impact of executive and leadership coaching? I was part of one coaching engagement where I and a team of coaches made institution history and saved the government over $100M by delivering a project ahead of schedule!! This was the first instance of this occurring in that organization’s 250-year history! In another organization, I worked with a 300+ member HR Technology Team, leveraging leadership coaching and agile coaching to support leaders in transforming their culture to increase transparency, team member engagement, and prioritized customer-partnering. These efforts helped teams heal, repair broken relationships, and restore trust. Today, they enjoy one of the most revered reputations in the agency. In both engagements, executives and leaders credited the coaching with helping them have the conversations and craft the communications they either were hesitant to develop or assumed were best avoided rather than risk making circumstances worse. How do you tailor your coaching approach to cater to the diverse needs of different leaders, and how do you approach leaders with big egos? Customization is essential. I see each leader as unique and curate an approach specific to their needs, personality, goals, strengths, and weaknesses. For teams, a similar approach is useful – except leaders must consider all factors as they apply to the team collective. This is extremely hard to do with ego. The more leaders focus on what their teams and organizations need, the less ego shows up. Instead, they focus on enhancing emotional intelligence (EQ), recognizing and regulating emotions during high-pressure situations, and providing regular, constructive feedback throughout the enterprise to address challenges and opportunities. What common misconceptions or myths about executive and leadership coaching would you like to address? Many assume Coaches can only help executives and leaders in developing “soft skills” such as communication, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal skills. In truth, coaching can develop “hard skills” by helping scientists, engineers, and technical experts bring greater vision, clarity, and innovation to their work. Coaches commit to the mastery of skills “I consider myself a “Leadership in the Trenches” Coach.” Ki, as a retired US Naval Officer, how did you come to be an executive and leadership coach? What attracted you to the profession? Working with extremely resourceful, wildly innovative, immensely dedicated professionals was the most rewarding part of my job. While some circumstances required direct guidance, many efforts offered opportunities for individual and team development. I worked on guiding teams in how to assess options, think through approaches, and own the execution through to the delivery of outcomes. Later, while pursuing my Doctorate, I found my approach closely aligned with Executive and Leadership Coaching. Concepts like ‘shining a light on leaders’ greatness’ and ‘holding space for executives’ extraordinary vision’ resonated deeply with me. In my perfect utopia, I work with leaders who are changing the world. Now, I get to do that every day. Does your former career influence and inform your approach to leadership coaching? Absolutely, “Yes”. I consider myself a “Leadership in the Trenches” Coach. I attract executives that are looking to take a stand and, in some way, ‘go to war’ with extraordinarily complex, long-standing issues – both internal (i.e.- a culture of complacency, apathy, intolerance, indifference, bullying, toxic thinking) and external (volatile industrial/ political/ economic conditions) – that threaten the organization’s ability to achieve its greatest aspirations. I coach leaders, executives, and teams as they assess what’s going on, determine the best strategy, formulate plans, and manage execution. CEO Today Executive Coaching Awards 2024 - USA - - 57 -
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