Coaching/Mentoring

Two Young Businessman in a Meeting — Kent, OH — M&E Whitmore Consulting

Effective Coaching Strategies

M & E Whitmore Consulting in Kent, OH, offers some effective coaching strategies.

Coaching: A Key Component to Leadership Development

A common problem in the development of leaders if that much of their time is spent on developing the skills they need to handle their current responsibilities and not enough time is spent on preparing the skills necessary to address future leadership challenges.

There is often a gap in experience caused by middle management focus on tactical skills in order to execute strategies set by others and the strategic thinking and communications skills needed of leaders to both develop strategies and articulate them to the organization and their followers. Commonly, high potential talent is thrust into leadership roles that they are unprepared for and consequently they fail to perform. The use of a coach can helps bridge that gap. Successful coaching involves helping the leader translate their day-to-day experiences into learning opportunities. To develop the skills they have missed along the way or to enhance underdeveloped skills in order to meet the expectations of their leadership role.

Best Practice Coaching Process

M&E Whitmore Consulting can streamline your coaching processes to improve coaching outcomes and customize the most efficient coaching efforts to meet the development needs of your leaders.

In 2001 Mark Whitmore designed a coaching process that was recognized in “The National Benchmarking Report; Executive Coaching: Emerging Trends and Best Practices in Corporate America.

The process is effective with the use of both internal and external coaches. Continuously innovating since 2001, the coaching process has evolved in to one of the country’s most outcome and cost-effective processes in the industry.

Coaching tools include:

Selection interviews for coaches to help potential clients select the right coach.
Coaching style assessment which helps to identify the potential to establish rapport and a beneficial relationship with the coach;
Templates for tracking and measuring coaching success and cost effectiveness; and
Coaching evaluation tools to determine that results are being achieved.

These are just some of the tools available. Let us review your current coaching processes, or help you design a coaching process to fit the leadership development needs of your company.

Coach the Coach Workshop

Over the course of 30 years, Dr. Whitmore has trained and developed numerous internal and external professionals to become successful executive coaches. Based upon practical organizational experience and educational background in psychology, he has designed a one day workshop around his best practice coaching process and tools.

Learn about your natural coaching style, developing a coaching contract, the best use of assessment instruments such as reasoning tests, personality assessments and 360 degree feedback. Practice your skills using real life case studies and role plays. This workshop is appropriate for both novice and experienced coaches.

Coaching Tools and Resources

To come.

Personal Coaching

M&E Whitmore Consulting combines the experience and insight of a 30 year career in business with an in-depth knowledge and education in human behavior in the state of Ohio. As a former executive, his experience includes coaching the top leaders in a company as well as emerging leaders and has enjoyed seeing many of the people he has coached move into senior level positions. M&E Whitmore Consulting is certified in numerous assessment tools including the WorkPlace Big Five Profile, and can incorporate these into the coaching process based on the request of the organization or client.

Group and Team Coaching

The LAB (Learning Application and Behavior) is a team based coaching process that is customized to the development needs of the team. The LAB is an excellent way to reinforce learning following a leader development program or after initial coaching, 360 degree feedback or other leadership assessment. LAB teams meet every six weeks and can vary in duration from six months to several years depending on the development needs of the group. In many cases the LAB can be spun off and facilitated by the team members themselves. To learn more about the LAB program, contact us at M&E Whitmore Consulting.

Mentoring

Mentoring can be one of the most effective ways to develop leaders when done properly. The principle of mentoring is that the organization can use its own leadership talent to develop the next generation of leaders. Unfortunately, most organizationally assigned mentoring relationships don’t work and without some formal process mentoring can degenerate into favoritism.

Mentoring: The Inside Scoop

Mentoring is an employee development strategy and is considered to be one of the best methods of developing high potential employees.

Mentoring can be done by anyone at any time.

Mentoring is a process where the mentor and mentor partner work together to discover and develop abilities, knowledge and skills as opportunities and needs arise.

Mentoring is a unique relationship and has personal as well as professional dimensions. At its best, mentoring is a partnership in which both members contribute equally.

Businessman Lectures — Kent, OH — M&E Whitmore Consulting

Mentoring Workshop

M&E Whitmore’s mentoring program and mentoring training creates the best environment where mentoring can flourish. The key to a successful mentoring program is matching the right mentor to mentoree based on mutual interest and leadership strengths to development needs. The objectives of the workshop are to:

Improve understanding of the roles of mentor and mentor partner
Allow both parties to meet in a learning environment
Establish goals and expectations for mentoring

Our mentoring program success can be found in the number of long-term mentoring relationships developed and in the openness and access of mentors to all leadership talent in the organization.

The best practices mentoring program consists of the matching process, a six-month schedule and agenda of mentoring meetings, with appropriate follow-up mechanisms and evaluations for as long as the mentoring relationship lasts.

The mentoring workshop brings together mentors and potential mentorees in an orientation and training session that sets the stage for future mentoring success. Expectations for the mentoring relationship is established and a plan is developed.

Coaching and Mentoring Newsletter

Register to receive a free e-mail subscription to the Coaching and Mentoring newsletter. The newsletter provides coaching and mentoring tips and techniques. The newsletter covers many organization issues and people challenges that often face leaders, coaches and mentors. Each issue will exposure its readers to new challenges and the best approach to address them.

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Coaching Qualifications

Number of Years Coaching

17 years as a personal coach. Primarily coaching emerging leaders, leaders at risk (derailment issues), and coach the coach (working with leaders to help them coach their direct reports).
8 years working as a team coach on issues related to empowerment, and change management.

Education

Ph.D. Industrial/Organizational Psychologist, minor International Business, The Ohio State University
Graduate – Executive Learning Methods Camp (Coaching Instructor-Marshall Goldsmith)
Graduate – Strategic Executive Development Training Workshop (Coaching Instructor – Jim Bolt)
Graduate – Harvard University, Leadership Educator’s Program (Instructors, John Kotter, and Ronald Heifetz
Graduate – Tools for Developing Successful Leaders, Center for Creative Leadership (Instructors Michael Lombardo, Robert Eichenger)

Knowledge of current leadership theories

Attended workshops on Emotional Intelligence, Authentic Leadership (trust-based leadership). Worked with several incumbent leaders on issues related to perceptions of trustworthiness, respect (or lack of respect), and emotional self-awareness.
Teach classes in Leadership Theories and Practices at Kent State University, University of Akron, and Baldwin Wallace University (including topics such as multi-cultural leadership, emotional intelligence, transformational and charismatic leadership)

Large Organizational Experience

Former Human Resources executive (six manager direct reports, 23 direct and indirect reports
Coach to General Counsel and head of a trial division and his direct reports of a major US insurer (300 attorneys) on merger of trial divisions of two major organizations. Coaching areas were around change management, development of vision, charismatic leadership. Also coached trial attorney teams.
Coached sales executives over a 5,000-agency sales force. Issues were related to developing sales force management.
Coached IT executives. Issues related to change management, motivating direct reports, career derailment issues.
Coached senior executives on coaching and mentoring skills.
Coached a select teams of emerging leaders on empowerment issues (over a five-year period)

Coaching awards