Career Coaching for Directors and C-Suite

What is career coaching?

Career coaching helps individuals discover what they really want to do with their lives and then develop a strategy to achieve it.

Executive coaching helps senior leaders and professionals develop outstanding leadership skills and establish a reputation as an authority.

A career coach helps you to:

discover and understand who you really are
identify and clarify what you most want
create and develop strategies for how you will achieve your goals

An executive career coach will help you manage a career change that is congruent with both your ambition and your personal and family life - and will help towards achieving your long term goals.

How can a career coach help you?

Work takes up a major part of our lives.

Does your work provide an opportunity to fulfil your highest personal needs and aspirations – or is it a stressful time endured to make ends meet?
Is your work challenging and developmental – or does it stifle your abilities?
Does it stretch you – or do you feel that some of your talent is unrecognised or wasted?

A career coach can help you identify what you really want out of life – what would really give you satisfaction, make you feel fulfilled. A career coach can help you appreciate the skills and experience that you have accumulated. And a career coach can help you identify opportunities and a network of contacts who can help you.

Together with your coach, you can analyse what you have found, set goals and then develop a strategy to achieve the career you really want. It may be progress in your existing organisation. It might require a complete change of direction. You may need to develop or improve some skills.

With a plan and someone to support you along the way, you will be well on the way to success.

When can a career coach help you?

Career coaching is particularly relevant when you are faced with change. Promotion, change of job, redundancy – or even retirement. You might be ready for significant advancement. Or you might just want to review where you are now.

Today's turbulent environment demands more from executives. As goals, roles and business conditions change, executives must learn new skills and hone their old ones. It is true that to stand still these days you must make constant progress! Working with a career coach will ensure that you don't just stand still – but make the progress you want.

How to achieve that director position

Achieving a directorship is a journey - the sooner you start, the better

Are you already a C-level manager aspiring to a board position, or portfolio career?

Do you aspire to a senior management position as executive or non-executive director, or are you considering a change to a new career?

Appointment to a company board is the culmination of a journey, including serving on committees, acting as a trustee, or joining the board of a smaller company to gain experience.

It is unlikely to happen suddenly. The sooner you start, the better.

Let me help you start from first principles and identify the career path or next appointment that leads to your greatest job satisfaction, professional growth and financial reward.

Essential steps to obtaining a directorship that is right for you:

Identify your strengths - knowledge, experience and wisdom
Quantify your skills, knowledge, abilities and achievements
Discover your personality profile - identify strengths and motivations
Discover what you really, really want - What, Where, Who and WHY
Explore current options, including a dramatic change of direction
Develop a career plan and strategy to achieve your chosen goal
Develop and promote a personal brand - become 'known'
Generate a powerful CV, resume and LinkedIn page
Compose covering letters that put you in charge of the assessment process
Practise interview skills
Decide whether a promotion is right for you
Undertake due diligence before accepting an offer.

On-boarding and training for new directors

Joining a board for the first time can be a big step. It requires a different mindset, new skills, a new identity and changed relationships.

Suddenly, you can be exposed to new language, new ideas and new assumptions; some things not taught even on MBA courses.

Your first 100 days are critical to your future success. You must budget significant time for your induction programme.

There will be a lot to learn - and it is your opportunity to establish your role and set expectations of your future behaviour and contribution.

As a new director you should receive induction on joining the board to obtain appropriate knowledge of the company and gain access to its operations and staff. The chairman, working through the company secretary, should ensure that you receive a full, formal and tailored induction.

Here are some of the key stages for new director induction:

Meeting with the chair
Meeting with the company secretary
Briefing

Administration
Information
Policies
Meetings and visits
Training and development
Governance

The appointment of a director is a significant investment for both director and board. An effective career coach will support you through this stage, even acting as an intermediary to ensure that you get access to the people and information you require and appropriate support throughout.

Contact Richard now for a personal review

May I help you plan your journey and decide on the next step. May I help you design and implement an effective strategy, and then, drawing on the resources of Thr eeTicks Academy to provide a total on-boarding experience, may I supply you with mentoring and tools for a total professional development journey.

Check out my personal website for coaching support.