Rational Coaching:  A Tested and Proven Process to Help You Unlock Your Career Potential

The purpose of Rational Coaching is to help successful leaders achieve a positive change in behavior: for themselves, their direct reports, and their teams.

Rational Coaching is a no-nonsense, results based approach that incorporates tested and proven techniques for helping leaders unlock their full career potential.

 Rational Coaching, at its core, focuses on the following:

▲     Developing and implementing effective and rational patterns of behaviors to replace less effective ones.

▲     Identifying more effective ways of communications and interpersonal relations

▲     Providing rigor in decision-making by focusing on improving critical thinking skills

▲     Serving as an external point of reference in reviewing strategic planning initiatives

▲     Enhancing general career development and effectiveness

 Our approach is based on empirically-tested techniques for executive coaching. They are brought together from leading sources to help leaders achieve positive, measurable changes in behavior. We use a simple, yet extremely effective, coaching process that can be implemented in a consistent way by our trained professionals, enabling clients to obtain consistent results across a large population of leaders.

The Career Potentials Coaching Process
The Career Potentials Coaching Process employs an eight-step approach to accomplishing behavioral change:

1. Coaching client "buy in" established. We involve the leaders being coached in the articulation of the behavior they would like to demonstrate in their leadership roles. Leaders cannot be expected to change behavior if they do not understand what desired behavior looks like. Leaders and their managers work with us to determine desired leadership behavior and articulate it in clear, tangible terms.
2. Leaders involved in the identification of key stakeholders. There are two main reasons people deny the validity of feedback: wrong items or wrong raters. By having the leaders and their managers agree in advance on the desired behaviors and key stakeholders around them, we help ensure their "buy in" to the process.
3. Feedback collected. We administer a customized 360 degree feedback instrument, combined with an in-depth behavior interview for each leader. The coach reviews the results of the assessment and writes a report presenting major trends and themes. At a minimum, these reports include strengths, weaknesses, and areas for possible development.
4. Key behaviors for change determined. The coach and the leader discuss the report and the behaviors the leader should change. We typically focus on only 1-2 key areas for behavioral change. This focuses maximum attention on the most important behaviors. Over the course of a few weeks, the coach works with the leader and others as appropriate to construct an action plan for improvement in the targeted areas.
5. Leader responds to key stakeholders. The leader talks with each key stakeholder and collects suggestions on how to improve on the targeted areas. The conversation is kept positive, simple, and focused.
6. Learning is reviewed and an action plan is developed. Beyond the basic steps in the process, the help we provide to leaders comes in the form of suggestions. We ask them to listen to our ideas and come back with a plan of what they want to do.
7. Ongoing follow-up process developed. Questions like, "Based upon my behavior last month, what ideas do you have for me next month?" keep the focus on the future. At appropriate intervals, we conduct a two-to-six item mini-survey with key stakeholders. This helps the leader see progress and identify areas for continued focus.
8. Results reviewed and the process begins again. When the leader has taken the process seriously, stakeholders report improvement. We are able to offer a pay-for-results guarantee for leaders willing to invest in a year-long coaching process precisely because thousands of leaders have so consistently achieved measurable improvement over the many years we have used this process. Leaders wishing to change additional behaviors can begin the process again.

Our related services, such as executive assessment, training, in-house coaches, and designing internal leadership development programs, all build on and incorporate our approach and philosophy toward Rational Coaching.

Find out how we can help you by arranging for a free first consultation through our Contact page.