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Executive
Business Coaching
In managing a business or profession the responsibilities
of senior management include a mandate to grow the
business and to achieve new levels of profitability.
For a senior public administrator in government
the responsibilities are different.
It includes a mandate to administer the agency
in a manner consistent with law and the public interest.
For the director of a non-profit or non-governmental
organization there is a similar responsibility.
In each instance the senior manager and/or
administrator must strategically build and maintain
an organization, get a group of people to perform
in a consistent fashion, and at times change the corporate
or organization culture. In
each instance Executive Business Coaching can help.
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What is Executive Business Coaching?
Executive Business Coaching is a helping relationship
formed between a client who has managerial authority
and responsibility in an organization and a coach
who uses a wide variety of behavioral techniques and
methods to help the client achieve a mutually identified
set of goals to improve his or her professional performance
and personal satisfaction and, consequently, to improve
the effectiveness of the client's organization.
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How can it help me?
Executives often realize that to take
advantage of future opportunities or to make
significant organizational impacts, they
must increase the range, flexibility and
effectiveness of their management skills.
They may wish to take stock or
better capitalize on their strengths and
potentials, to manage their shortcomings, or
to learn how to manage themselves and others
in times and under conditions of
environmental and organizational turbulence,
crisis and conflict.
Or they may simply wish to have a “sounding
board” for those ideas and concerns that
they feel uncomfortable discussing with
colleagues or subordinates.
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How much does it cost?
The cost of Executive Business Coaching depends on
the intervention required. An intervention may be
required for one or several individuals or it may
be part of an organization development relationship.
Stand alone programs (that are not part of
an OD intervention) typically last from six months
to one year.
Strategic Management Associates, Inc. corporate
fees range from $1,000 - $3,000 per month for weekly
(3 per month per individual) executive and business
coaching sessions which include one or more personal
assessments and weekly telephone or office visit coaching
sessions.
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Coaching
for personal and organizational success
Coaching also is appropriate for individuals
who may be experiencing personal or
organizational challenges.
On a personal level it helps the
individual grow and develop.
Clients become more aware of their
strengths and limitations and how to build
on these strengths and overcome their
limitations.
Coaching also helps them to develop action
plans for growth.
Within
the organization, Coaching may help that
employee who is a perceived to be a source
of irritation. For example, the individual
may be seen as abrasive, angry, excessively
controlling, disempowering, anti-social, or
simply a poor communicator, one who has
difficulty selling his or her ideas
internally. Another
individual might be seen as unable to get
along with his or her peers, supervisors,
authorities, or customers.
Another might be having trouble
adjusting to organizational or personal
changes or crises.
Yet another might be seen as undisciplined,
or lacking the ability to plan or organize
or get a team to come together.
Still another employee might be
experiencing stress at work or at home.
In both
instances our task is to help the individual
look at every aspect of his or her life,
such as physical environment, career,
finances, health, relationships with
business associates, friends and family or
significant others as well as one’s personal
growth, spiritual life, or how much fun one
is having in life.
We do this by posing questions that clients
have often asked themselves, but seldom
truly answered. The
purpose of our questions is to get our
clients to address those areas of their
lives that they believe will make them
happier and more fulfilled persons.
Our goal is to help our
clients discover what they really want, what
they fear, what motivates them, and what
holds them back.
Hopefully, they will even come to grips with
their purpose in life and where you are
“selling out.” We
don’t have the answers. That’s the job of the client.
Our job is to ask questions, to
challenge, encourage and provide support,
and to hold the client accountable.
Through
the process of Life Coaching, clients
visualize what a fulfilled and balanced life
would look like for them, take stock of
where they are now, and determine how they
would like to realize their visions.
Costs:
Individual clients: $400.00 per month
with a minimum contract of three months.
Clients meet with Coach for 45 minute
sessions three times per month.
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Consensus
Building
Change is a
constant and predictable yet challenging
aspect of organizational life and culture in
the 21st century. It
is inevitable that conflict accompanies
change. Consensus
building processes offered by
Strategic Management
Associates include decision conferencing
facilitation and mediation. Each has been
found to be very effective in dealing with
interpersonal or inter-group
misunderstandings as well as organizational
change challenges.
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Facilitation
Strategic Management Associates, Inc.’s
group facilitation and decision conferencing
services are designed to help groups share
ideas, work on organization problems, plan
corporate strategy, facilitate decision
making, resolve conflicts, or augment
organization development initiatives. It includes processes eliciting the
group’s input and expectations, the
establishment of ground rules, which include
norms for reciprocity and trust, and the
determination of the pertinent areas of
discussion.
In our
role as facilitators we aim to ensure a
productive process by helping group members
work together as a constructive and cohesive
unit. This is done
by keeping the group focused, encouraging
constructive debate, eliciting ideas from
more introverted members of the group, and
promoting healthy interaction among and
between all members,
At times the facilitator functions as a
referee, helping to maintain a measure of
group decorum, discouraging inappropriate
behaviors such as dominance of the
discussion by one or a few participants,
ensuring that all contributions to the
discussion are honored and no one is
prevented from having input, and keeping to
the agreed upon timetable for completion of
the agenda. Finally,
we concentrate on the group process rather
than the content of the discussion. This enables us to pose pertinent and
stimulating questions.
Though
the facilitator is impartial, he or she
frequently is called upon to make
substantive comments and to stimulate new
points of view, and must be aware of
competing agendas, the past conflict history
of group members, as well as the
frustrations of dealing with multiple
parties and multiple issues. Through interactive dialogue, the
group establishes relationships, clarify
values, surface the underlying issues that
have generated what appears to be the
problems, gather facts pertinent to the
issue's or problems, analyze these facts,
and arrive at appropriate solutions. The last step in the process is
building consensus which meets the essential
interests of each side.
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Mediation
Strategic Management Associates, Inc.’s
principal is a registered mediator who works
with private and public entities to devise
strategies for effective problem solving and
dispute resolution. Using Alternative Dispute Resolution
processes affected stakeholders are
encouraged to share whatever information is
necessary to identify potential or existing
problems; to make a good faith commitment to
seeking a fair and equitable outcome that
meets the needs of each party and develop an
acceptable agreement that captures the
essence of this outcome.
Mediation is a
process in which an impartial third party called a
mediator guides disputants through non adversarial
problem solving. In the mediation and with the mediator’s
assistance the parties share their perceptions of
the conflict, consider how their interests overlap,
generate various options and reach an agreement that
settles all or part of their differences. The
mediation process is non-binding unless an agreement
with consequences for violations is made. The
mediator has no authority to decide the issues or
force a settlement. The
actual conduct of the mediation may vary depending
upon the nature of the issues at stake.
The important advantages
of mediation to the parties are confidentiality, the
fact that solutions are devised in a private and informal
setting by the affected parties, and the preservation
of relationships. The
affected parties of the mediation work with the mediator
to establish ground rules, time limits, and the necessity
of future mediation sessions.
Although each party
may be accompanied by an attorney, the mediator’s
emphasis is on the parities involved, not the law. If
present at the mediation, attorneys can be helpful
in discussing legal precepts, rights and obligations
that may be involved or what is likely to occur if
the case goes to litigation. However,
there are no court reporters, stenographers, or court
officers. The mediator
guides the conduct of the mediation without adhering
to the formal rules of evidence or legal procedures. Should
a settlement be reached on all or part of the issues,
the mediator may assist the parties in drafting a
Settlement Agreement. The
parties are advised to consult their attorneys regarding
the preparation of all legal documents.
Within organizations
important advantages are lower monetary costs, constructive
dialogue, and the continuity of personnel. The
advantage of a mediation and a neutral third party
is that this person provides an external point of
view which enables him or her to objectively see where
trust is broken, where stakeholders are having difficulty
giving up privileges, or where their actions may be
blocking progress. If
mediation is not successful, parties know that they
can move onto more formal, public processes such as
arbitration or litigation.
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Ethics
Consultations
Strategic Management Associates, Inc.
provides customized needs
based ethics consultations to public and
private sector organizations that recognize
the value of integrating ethics at all
levels of their operations.
We
generally begin with an ethics assessment or
inventory to determine the extent to which
ethics permeates your organization. We customize assessment surveys and
tools that provide information about your
ethical culture.
Based on this assessment we design with you
an approach that fits your organizations
needs and style.
This
design might call for ethics training. This training can take one of three
forms: value clarification, morality
training, or compliance training.
We are not in the business of telling
you what your values ought to be. However, we help you and your staff
and/or employees to surface or discover
individual and shared values. We help you to articulate these
shared values which become the raw material
for creating or refining your own code of
ethical conduct. Morality and/or ethical training seminars
are the centerpiece of our offerings.
We offer them either as stand alone
or customized workshops or seminars.
We can either train your whole
organization or train your trainers. Compliance training is almost always
a customized workshop, because each
organization or agency is governed by
different regulations.
We offer
help in communicating your ethics position. You want your stakeholders to know
how you value integrity. It is important that keep them
informed in a balanced, non preachy way
about your values and the code of ethics by
which you manage your organization or
institution.
We have
found that often management feels the need
for ethics coaching. We will provide ongoing support for your
ethics program. We
will even coach you and your people when the
going gets rough and you are faced with a
particularly taxing ethical dilemma.
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