Coaching Approaches

A coaching engagement with a leader is typically a six-month process that includes assessments, interviews and personal, one-on-one and telephone coaching sessions. Our preference, whenever possible, is to base the coaching relationship on personal, face-to-face consultation and coaching.

We customize the coaching content and process to fit the goals and needs of the client and the company. The actual design of the coaching content is developed after the initial goal setting phone call and meeting with the leader and the leader’s boss, or sponsor.Here are the most common coaching options that we provide to our clients:

Comprehensive 6 Month Program


Our comprehensive framework for coaching is a six-month process. The goal is to provide the leader with an in-depth, intense and well rounded process to achieve his or her developmental needs related to personal style, work unit/business performance, leadership effectiveness, productive stakeholder relationships and any emergent issues as they arise.

A six month coaching process typically follows these steps.
Leader/Sponsor Exploratory Meeting: Individual exploratory meetings are held with the leader and the leader’s boss, or sponsor, to gather back-ground information, understand the developmental goals and to review the coaching process.

Intake Meeting: A special intake meeting is held with the leader to understand his/her personal history, set developmental goals and to gather baseline data in regard his/her working relationships with bosses, peers and direct reports.

Goal Setting & Alignment: A three-way meeting, or conference, call is held between the leader, his/her boss and the leadership coach to clarify mutual expectations and ensure alignment in desired outcomes.

Assessments: The leader, depending on his/her need, is provided the opportunity for personal style assessments, 360° leadership assessments, work unit diagnostic and other analytical processes to help him/her finalize goals for improvement.

Personal Coaching: Coaching sessions and teleconferences are arranged to engage the leader in personal discussions, feedback the results from any assessments used and to develop improvement plans.

Mid-term Leader/Sponsor Conference: Mid-way through the coaching process another three-way meeting/teleconference is arranged with the leader, his/her boss and the coach to discuss progress and ensure continued goal alignment.



LEAD Program & Coaching Combination


This four month approach entails enrolling the leader in our four-day LEAD Program for High Potential Managers with leadership coaching taking place prior to participating in the program and as a follow-up process afterwards. Enrolling the leader in the LEAD Program is a proven way to jump-start the coaching process and accelerate the desired changes.

The advantages of this approach are:
The leader leaves the LEAD Program with a complete set of personal style, leadership and work unit improvement plans that can be implemented immediately.

Frank Petrock, as a member of the faculty, gets an opportunity to observe how the leader handles him or herself in groups and works one-on-one with other high potential managers.

The leader and I develop a close working relationship faster because of the time we spend together in personal coaching sessions during the week and working with each other during the session to develop his or her improvement plans.


To learn more about the LEAD Program for High Potential Managers go to www.leadinstitute.com


Leadership Transition Coaching


Leadership Transition Coaching is typically a short-term coaching process that takes place during the first three months of a manager’s transition into the new job role. Ideally, it is best to start the coaching process a couple of weeks before the manager actually assumes his or her new job responsibilities.

The research shows that if a new managers does not go from being the work group’s “new manager” to being “new leader” in the first three or four months, then the likely that it will ever happening is very low. How the manager handles the first three or four months in the new job role is a strong determinant of future success.

The primary goal of Leadership Transition Coaching is to provide these managers with the support, guidance and consultation to ensure that they make a positive leadership transition and that they take hold of their new job role responsibilities in a way that ensures productive relationships with their bosses, direct reports and peers.


Leadership Transition Coaching often includes the following:
Briefing the manager on the typical problems and pitfalls inherent in leadership transitions

Providing the manager with a road map of the five stages of a leadership transition.

Assisting the managers in preparing a plan for his or her leadership transition.

Coaching sessions/conference calls to monitor the transition and to develop solutions to problems encountered during the process.

Facilitating a meeting with the manager and his or her boss to ensure mutual role responsibilities are clear.


Intensive Short Term Coaching


We also provide a coaching intervention that needs to be intense, and short-term in nature.

Some of the situations where this type of “quick fix” approach might be useful are:
Dealing with an unexpected, problematic personal or organizational situation.

Adjusting to the demands and/or style of a new boss.

Overcoming annoying, disruptive behavior patterns.

Coaching the leader on how to manage a problematic employee.
Mapping out a major organizational change, or the he implementation of a new program.