We are frequently asked “who needs a leadership coach?”  The answer is simple…. Everyone needs a coach! Just like professional athletes, behind the best leaders are great coaches. Leaders throughout government, the military, private sector, and non-profits today follow a similar philosophy.  They know that in today’s competitive world, to be the best they can be, they must engage with a top-performing leadership coach. The best method of Leadership Coaching is a structured approach, customized to the complexity and challenges unique to the leader, providing a powerful way to use feedback to see through the lens of others to better understand how you and your decisions are perceived, and to adjust your leadership style accordingly, to become most effective.

Leadership Coaching has a positive impact on you as a leader, while also impacting your team, your organization, and your customers.   Chambers Bay Institute executive/leadership coaches are a select group, with a depth of experience having coached hundreds, some thousands, of leaders from all levels – from the C-suite to emerging leaders – and from some of the most complex organizations in the world today. Each coach began their career as a practitioner, developed through their hands-on leadership experiences, were trained, certified, and have a passion to help others.  Each focuses on assisting leaders to move them from where they are to where they want to be.

Who We’ve COACHED?

• Coached over 7,000 leaders from the C-suite to the loading dock
• Seasoned leaders to emerging ones
• S. Army Pre-Command Colonels, Lieutenant Colonels, Command Sergeants Major – Active Duty, Reserve, National Guard
• Defense Logistics Agency – Managers, Supervisors, Team/Work Leads
• Private Companies
• Retail Companies
• Corporate Small to Large
• Family Owned
• Non-Profits
• Government – Local to Federal

Benefits the Individual, Team, and Organization

We work at the strategy and policy levels, as well as with middle managers who are responsible for implementing this strategy.  Our understanding of both strategic and operational levels of organizations allows our coaches to work effectively with leaders at all levels to assist them in their growth, resulting in the development of new and innovative approaches to their work.

We help leaders align strategy and action at the individual, team, and organizational levels. First, at the behavioral level, an individual must be aware of his/her behavior and their impact on peers, team members, and the organization as a whole. Our experience has taught us that sustainable organizational change most often occurs one work team at a time, and that the impact of one’s behavior and leadership approach is most evident and best developed within the work team setting.

We also work with our clients to become more aware of broader organizational dynamics, and how their actions impact the broader organization.  Our coaching approach helps leaders at every level to align their team with their organization’s strategy in order to produce outcomes that enhance team performance, while furthering broader organizational objectives. This approach enhances succession planning and retention strategies by developing leadership capacity and increasing employee engagement in the context of real work.

We understand how to motivate and develop today’s leaders in this age of Artificial Intelligence, developing leaders who are capable to build the future. This approach is critical in creating a culture that attracts, develops, and retains top talent.

We combine the knowledge and understanding of human performance and leadership development, coupled with years of experience as a practitioner first, then training and on-going education as a leadership/executive coach, certified in a variety of areas. This permits the coach to arm leaders with multiple useful tools for their kits.

Management for Large- or Small-Scale Leadership Coaching Programs

Chambers Bay Institute knows how to create and manage a leadership coaching program to fit your organization – large or small.  A scalable, leadership coaching program requires experience and knowledge of how to manage the program to include hiring and retaining top-quality leadership coaches, quality assurance practices, on-going training for coaches, accounting and reporting of coaching sessions, and other management practices to align with federal government/military or corporate acquisition practices and requirements.

We complement your organization’s training team. For example, we assisted in the design of the initial model, helped to launch the program, created content, matured it over the years, and have trained, managed, and structured the coaches – a successful program now over 14-years old.  In this case, we worked, assisting the organization’s Talent Management Team, bringing a level of expertise and experience that they did not have internally.

We have trained, managed, and provided on-going training for a team of leadership coaches, with a deep bench, for a large-scale federal government 1-on-1 leadership/executive coaching program consistently, entering its 5^th year. This includes all reporting, accounting, finances, and contractual matters.  It also includes keeping coaches current on organizational strategic goals, key operational activities, change initiatives, automation integration, for a coaching program designed for leaders from the loading dock to the C-suite.

Our coaches adapt to accommodate the leader – we adjust to fit to each leader’s global time zone, work shift, 24/7 operations, deployments, and real-world, man-made and natural disasters.  All coaching is conducted telephonically to provide leaders the most flexibility and to keep costs to a minimum.  Our leadership coaches bring diverse competency and expertise, skilled first as a practitioner, with multiple tools to best assist clients.

Coaches must be external to an organization; not employees – outside professionals create a greater level of trust and confidentiality, vital to the success of a 1-on-1 coaching program.  Further, inside/internal coaches cause the organization to “clone its own knowledge”.  Professional leadership coaches remain current with industry best practices, have vast experience with a variety of organizations and industries, as well as, leaders from complex organizations ranging from senior executives to emerging ones.

Considerations for Federal Government/DoD, Private, or Non-Profit Sectors

Consider leadership coaching for those in key operational assignments – not done at the “schoolhouse”, but rather right at work while leaders are in operational positions.  This allows leaders to apply what they gain from coaching to their real-world personal and professional challenges.

If just beginning a Leadership Coaching program for your organization, consider a pilot program within one division or sector or at one location. Once comfortable, expand the program throughout the organization. Your leaders begin by taking a 360-multi-source feedback survey, participate in one-on-one coaching spread over a period of 3 to 4 months, and then take another 360-multi-source feedback survey one-year after the initial one.  Leaders will see in this second report, a positive change in their effectiveness. Coaches assist with the interpretation of the 360 results and help leaders to determine where best to place their “crowbar” to gain greatest results. Then they provide coaching, customized to leader’s needs, addressing real-work challenges.

Feedback From 1-on-1 Leadership Coaching

Three examples from hundreds of feedback comments we have received from coaching feedback surveys provided at the conclusion of leadership coaching.

1. This shares a leader’s doubt – but after the first session, they looked forward to their coaching sessions.

“I have to admit that at first, I thought this was going to be a waste of time; I have a lot on my plate. After the first session I was quick to change my mind. My coach gave great insight, recommendations, and guidance.”

2. This is from a highly capable leader who found that their coach really was able to bring their 360 to life, helping them to learn more than what just appeared on the report.

“While my 360-Survey revealed I was very in tune with my employees and management, my coach still found a way to help me improve in weak areas while finding my crowbar. The most important aspect was his listening and communication skills. This experience not only benefitted me, it led directly to an administrative workload reduction of 50% across the entire division. This not only improved efficiency, it had a significant impact on morale and has actually fostered other personnel within the division to brainstorm for future potential changes.”

3. This one speaks to the objective perspective and how the coach brought real-world application to light.

“This was a great experience.  I had not had coaching before from an outside professional, and I really enjoyed it.  My coach was able to give good objective advice that wasn’t internally driven, but real-world applications which can be used universally (good to have an outside person’s view).  Coach was very receptive and flexible.”

Chambers Bay Institute develops leaders capable of inspiring others with fresh visions of the future, integrating and aligning their efforts to accomplish their mission. We help leaders to see possibilities where others see obstacles, channeling the collective energy of their organization to make this shared vision a reality.  “Great leaders lead change; they don’t simply react to change – they create it.”

Leadership Coaching ● Strategic Advisory Services ● Consulting Solutions

Learn more from our team at Chambers Bay Institute and our latest book “Seeing What isn’t There – A Leader’s Guide to Creating Change in a Complex World”. Contact us at leadership@chambersbayinstitute.com