Our Approach

Executive Coaching

As a Goodstone Group coach, Cathy uses many of the same philosophies as this nationally recognized group. This approach to targeted behavioral coaching relies on two core strengths: proven coaching principles and real-world understanding and experience that helps senior leaders change.

Principles

  • Keep it simple and focused: work on one or two behavioral goals over the course of the coaching engagement.
  • Support the leader to disclose these goals to key stakeholders, in order to create greater accountability.
  • Ask stakeholders for feedback, keeping the focus on what the leader needs to change in the future, rather than on the impact of his or her past behavior.
  • Encourage the leader to be intentional in practicing new behaviors and in following up with stakeholders — make sure that the new behaviors are noticed and adjusted as needed, in the event of over- or under-correction.
  • Provide the leader with new insights, tools and experiences to support their success with their development goals.
  • Measure results as perceived by those who experience the leader’s behaviors, not according to the leader or the coach.

The consistency and simplicity of this approach is what makes it work. Cathy’s role as a coach will be to create focus and clarity around the actions a leader needs to take on his/her goals.

Team Development

Cathy’s methodology for team development closely follows Patrick Lencioni’s work outlined in “The Advantage” because of its practical and high implementable methodology.

Principles

  • Ensure that the leader is committed to changing their own behavior and management of the team and that this is evident to the team before commencing broader work.
  • Meet with all team members and truly understand the current state of the team – both in terms of team dynamics and business effectiveness.
  • Facilitate team building sessions that help the team appreciate and respect team members, that resolve trust issues or build trust to new levels and that clarify how each team member needs to change their own behavior to be a better team member.
  • Conduct follow-up 1-1 coaching sessions with all team members to ensure that progress is actually made on individual and team goals.
  • Continue with further team sessions to clarify the organizational agenda, including strategic action planning.
  • Create a cycle of momentum that continually moves the team and the organizational goals forward.
Executive Facilitation

The success of any executive facilitation is a deep understanding of the objectives and the people so that the sessions can be designed and executed in a value-added manner.

Principles

  • Partner with the leader to ensure that their role is clear and that their leadership before, at and after the session will be effective.
  • Interview all participants to ensure a deep understanding of the session objectives and to design a facilitation that will lead to the desired outcomes. As well, these interviews will reveal the interpersonal dynamics that will need to be facilitated effectively.
  • Assign pre-work so that as much progress as possible can be made in the session and to ensure that everyone is grounded in the work and seriousness of the session.
  • Customize the session to be as relevant and time effective as possible but with flexibility to change directions.
  • Ensure that there is clarity of outcome and next steps and that there is a follow-up accountability.