Transitional coaching has a very specific road map that helps newly promoted, hired, acquired or reorganized employees to navigate the transition process smoothly. As we know, success is contextual and even the smartest people don’t succeed in every circumstance without some help. In fact, recent research tells us that many newly transitioned executives don’t make a successful transition and leave their respective company within 18 months.

The phone call we get the most is an HR executive letting us know that their company has just hired a VP to run an important function. They let us know that a lot of time, energy and money has been spent in this process and they believe that getting some coaching for this VP will protect their investment. Our job is to come in and establish a 100 day action plan with the new VP to ensure their success. This process would include interviewing stakeholders, determining the current environment and calibrations the new leader will need to initially make, helping them set the tone for their organization and articulating their vision going forward.

There are 3-4 meetings that we believe need to happen to lay the ground work for a successful coaching program. In parallel we conduct an Orientation meeting with the the potential coachee and also meet with the sponsoring manager and their HRBP. These two meetings are not only to inform all parties what to expect in this process but it is also to determine “fit”. If we determine there is a fit we will then conduct a goal development meeting with all parties and establish 4-5 coaching objectives. Our intention is to make sure everyone is on the same page as to what the deliverables are in this process. Once established we then move into the coaching phase.

This is generally done by implementing a 360 survey or conducting interviews with key stakeholders to establish a baseline at the start of the coaching program. As we near the conclusion of the program we repeat the process to measure progress against the established goals.

The specifics that are discussed in coaching meetings are confidential. The goals and the progress toward the goals are shared with the supervisor/manager and we strongly encourage the coaching participant to share the results of their 360 feedback results.

Our executive coaching programs consist of many customized elements that are chosen based on areas of development needed. In addition to the one-on-one coaching meetings, we might observe meetings run by the coaching participant or attend a presentation. We also make a second coach available for other opinions/ideas if a candidate is interested. We provide consultation to our coaching participants between scheduled meetings when real time situations arise.

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