• Coaching one person to greater leadership effectiveness can make a difference in the lives of countless others.

• Effective staffs are happy people with good morale

No need to say more.

Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio
Nationwide Executive Coaching and Talent Management Services

Other than expectations and accountability, communications is by far the area we coach on the most. Communications is the transfer point. Everything from motivation to delegation to leadership itself depends on the executive’s ability to communicate effectively and professionally. Most people do not even recognize their communications shortcomings and are confused by the results of them. Oakley Advisors executive coaches objectively assess each client’s communications skills and offer them clear tools and processes for dramtically improving them.

Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio
Nationwide Executive Coaching and Talent Management Services

We have all heard the famous story of “The Buck Stops Here” plaque on President Harry Truman’s desk. But few executives today realize the critical importance of accountability on leadership skills. Powerful leaders accept responsibility for their knowledge of situations as well as their actions. Too often today we find managers in very senior positions who blame others for failures or don’t accept ownership for troublesome situations in their organizations. They rationalize, deny, and blame. Sometimes, in a strange twist, they even accept responsibility that is not theirs. How does this happen? Why does it happen? The reasons are varied and complex. The only thing that is clear is that there is a crisis of accountability in today’s business environment.

Oakley Advisors executive coaches directly address the issues of accountability with each and every client. Some of our clients tell us that this aspect of our program alone justifies the entire cost of the program. Call us today to find out more about issues of accountability and how we can move your entire organization to a new level of performance by addressing it.

Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio
Nationwide Executive Coaching and Talent Management Services

• 65% companies provide coaching for their leaders.
• Coaching is fairly split among four levels, C-level, VPs, directors, and mangers.
• 46% use coaching to change behaviors.
• 63% of coaches are external.
• 43% report increases in coaching budgets and 70% expect increases in next three years.

Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio
Nationwide Executive Coaching and Talent Management Services

There are a number of different approaches that are used by executive coaches. We have talked about most of them in prior entries:

• Coaching on weaknesses or coaching on strengths
• Group coaching and individual coaching
• Situational coaching and process coaching.

Pretty confusing, huh? As you read more and more, you may ask how to determine which approach is right for your company.

Oakley Advisors can help. We understand all the approaches and their particular advantages. We can help you determine which type of executive coach you should be looking for.

We will start right with the very core questions, “What return on investment (ROI) do you want from executive coaching?” What is the most important business contribution that you want from executive coaching? Like all other initiatives and investments, executive coaching must support and fit with the overall vision and culture of the business.

Once, we have determined the right executive coaching program for your company, Oakley Advisors can fill the bill from our wide network of professional executive coaches.

Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio
Nationwide Executive Coaching and Talent Management Services

Those who are familiar with the Oakley Advisors coaching program know that we often speak of non-productive behavior. It is a somewhat odd term, especially when talking about executives and senior managers who are usually known as being very productive members of the business.

Non-productive behavior does not necessarily mean that the executive is not being productive. To the contrary, their personal work output may be extremely high. However, they may be exhibiting behaviors that inhibit the productivity of those who work with and for them. They might demand that others manage exactly to their own exacting standards. Or they may display a number of intimidating management behaviors. They often are not even aware that they are doing this and they most certainly are not aware of the detrimental effect their behaviors are having on the business. These are the situations where we use the term “non-productive behavior”.

Oakley Advisors executive coaches have worked with many managers who have strong tendencies toward non-productive behavior. We actually see this as an area that is on the rise as we work with more and more companies. By helping these managers to recognize and alter their behaviors, the businesses in which they work achieve remarkable increases in productivity and employee satisfaction.

Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio
Nationwide Executive Coaching and Talent Management Services

Some people who have read our web site and heard our presentations have said, “you make it sound like executive coaching is the solution to just about every management problem. Can it be that good?”

Well, we certainly are passionate about our work and we are glad that it shows when we talk about coaching. But certainly, executive coaching is not the solution to all management problems. Effective executive coaching is just a part of the comprehensive talent management programs that companies should be putting in place. From a budgeting perspective, it actually might be one of the smaller parts. But, when evaluating executive coaching we feel strongly that there are two points that businesses should be considering:

1. Even though executive coaching may be a small part of the talent management budget, it very possibly delivers the greatest return on investment (ROI) for talent management and personnel investment. This is because it directly impacts those managers who, as individuals, have the greatest impact on the organization’s performance – the executives and senior management.
2. Every successful, top performing organization should consider having executive coaching as a permanent ongoing part of its talent management strategy. To exclude it is to exclude what has become a required element for any world-class organizational development model.

Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio
Nationwide Executive Coaching and Talent Management Services

It is human nature and has been said in so many different ways, whether it s a diet or learning to play a musical instrument – we procrastinate. This is especially true when it comes to making a commitment to change ourselves. Working with an executive coach is right up there on the tough commitment ranking.

Many senior managers feel they have been successful because they either do not have any detrimental behaviors, or have overcome them. Nothing could be further from the truth. Top performing CEO’s recognize that improving their personal performance will help them improve their contribution. From this perspective, using an executive coach can be ego based. The focus on self-improvement that comes from executive coaching will help the executive leave a stronger legacy.

We don’t really care how companies and individual executives come to see the extraordinary value of executive coaching just so long as they get there. By doing so, they are on the road to making real differences for themselves, their teams, and their organizations.

Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio
Nationwide Executive Coaching and Talent Management Services

Even though Oakley Advisors is located in Cincinnati, Ohio we offer nationwide services. We can do this for two reasons:

1. Our coaches will travel to client sites and work on their premises. This includes international locales. One might ask why companies would not use local executive coaching firms rather than have Oakley Advisors travel to them. The reason is that the Oakley Advisors executive coaching process is unique and proprietary and it has an excellent track record for delivering strong business results. There are very few executive coaching firms that are using a process approach. It is well worth having Oakley Advisors come to your location.
2. Oakley Advisors has member coaches in other major American metropolitan areas including Dallas, Atlanta, Cleveland, and Columbus with more cities to come. Coaches will be added in both Europe and Asia that will make international coaching engagements easier to manage.

No matter where your company does business, call us. The Oakley Advisors executive coaching process and the world’s premier executive coaches can be working for you tomorrow.

Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio

The Sherpa stance is another reason why the Sherpa process is unique and effective. The Sherpa stance has 4 elements that guide the coaching parameters for executive coaches. They are:

• Precise – is the issue that the client so presenting specific enough that some action can be taken to address it. It is surprising how many times clients will talk to coaches about situations with a coach and yet no specific action plan results. This is usually because the issue was not precisely defined. We often push our clients to tell us exactly how the issue “looks” at work with as many examples and specifics as possible.
• Present – Past situations really don’t mean much to us anymore except as examples. Future actions can be strived for but cannot be coached yet. The present is all that matters when taking coaching action that makes a difference.
• Personal – Actually this point should be read NOT personal. Executive coaching is a business function and should stay there. Issues in a client’s personal life are the venue for life coaches and therapists.
• Possible – Sometimes a client wants to work on situations that are beyond their control. The most common example is a their wanting to have a new boss. Well, in most cases, that is not going to happen unless they change jobs. So, it is really not possible. A good executive coach will help them to see that and then work on changes that are under their control and can make a difference in their work environment.

Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio