Looking at the Oakley Advisors web site, one can see that some of the finest executive coaches in the Cincinnati area are associated with Oakley Advisors. But Oakley Advisors also acts as a placement and distribution center for other top executive coaches. Because we know how critical it is that the “fit” between coach and client is right in order for executive coaching to be effective, we have developed relationships with a large group of executive coaches with varied personalities, techniques, and approaches. We also know how important this can be to our client companies, each of which has specific needs and expectations for their executive coaches.

So, IF YOU ARE A QUALIFIED EXCUTIVE COACH LOOKING FOR MORE OPPORTUNITIES, give us a call. We may be just the right connection you need to expand your practice and join a growing team of executive coaches dedicated to superior results for our clients.

Jerry Kleinhaus

Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio

In our option, the strongest element of Sherpa coaching is the fact that it is process driven. The process is the core of Sherpa’s effectiveness. It puts a specific goal and timeframe around the coaching process. It adds a repeatable element to the coaching experience, making the coaches that use it ever stronger and more proficient. It uses tools that are used by all Sherpas. Since most Sherpas share experiences using the tools with each other, the tools are constantly improved. Because the process is documented, the certification of its use can be reviewed, modified, and continuously improved. There is no other executive coaching process that undergoes this rigor and dynamic improvement.

Jerry Kleinhaus

Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio

The terms executive coaching and talent management both appear in the Oakley Advisors tag line. Some of our clients have asked us what the difference is between the two. In general, the answer is that executive coaching is a branch of talent management. Talent management encompasses all levels of management and indeed the entire employee base. Executive coaching is very specific one on one individual talent management.

While the executive coaching process is effective with any employee, no matter what their job, it is usually reserved for senior management. This is not a discriminatory behavior. But rather, it is a recognition that changes in management behavior gives a proportionately greater return to the business as it is applied at higher levels. Therefore, the ROI for executive coaching approaches its highest level as it is applied to a company’s most senior managers – its executives. Thus the name, “executive coaching”.

Jerry Kleinhaus

Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio

For any company that has been growing in the past 10 years and looking to fill its ranks with talented middle and upper level managers, they know the all too painful truth. There is a huge shortage of talent in today’s labor market, especially for skilled executives. And that shortage is growing.

It used to be that executives that were non productive could be easily replaced. No more. Executive coaching is a sound business decision. Investing in executive coaching, which can revitalize and hone a seasoned executive, is simply good business. For a relatively minor investment, key experience and talent can be saved at a fraction of the cost of replacement. Executive coaching from Oakley Advisors can make it happen.

I was discussing executive coaching recently with a friend of mine who is an executive at a major corporation in Cincinnati. She was polite and interested but told me that she had worked with an executive coach for years and could honestly say that she did not feel that she had benefited from the experience much, if at all. She said the coach was competent, intelligent, and seemed to be well trained. But, in the end, she did not think that executive coaching was a good use of her time or the company’s money.

I probed deeper and asked her to tell me as much as she was comfortable with saying about the work she had done with the coach. She said she was OK with telling me the details, but SHE COULD NOT REMEMBER THEM! That statement immediately identified a major problem. The coach probably was providing her with valuable training and tools that were helping her improve her performance. But my friend did not retain them. She probably used them at the time and may have even recognized their value. But if the coach did not also provide her with ways in which to make the tools and techniques a permanent part of her daily management behaviors, she soon forget them and fell back into old behaviors. Ultimately, my friend forgot them completely and thus her perception that the coaching was not worth it.

Oakley Advisors executive coaches take specific steps to make sure the changes and improvements that coaches make become permanent parts of the client’s management style. Without that step, the entire coaching process becomes very limited in value. Clients who are not coached to PERMANAT CHANGE will say that executive coaching does not work. And for them, that will be true. It is up to the coach to make sure that does not happen.

Jerry Kleinhaus

Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio

We put much emphasis on the point that we do process coaching. The Oakley Advisors executive coaching program is built on a process approach, which means it has:

• A beginning and an end
• A determined length of time
• A specific goal

Some executive coaches take an open-ended approach with their clients. They use tools and techniques that are applied on a case-by-case basis and take coaching sessions one at a time. Sessions are often not interconnected by subject or purpose. There is some value in that approach but, in the large majority of cases, we do not feel that the open approach is as productive as the process approach. Here’s why.

Consider how all other aspects of the business are run:

• Project plans plot work against time to produce a specific result.
• Operational and manufacturing processes are designed to deliver products and services within a specific time at a specific cost.
• Internal staff and resource organizations work to meet specific budgets within fiscal and planning timeframes.

Why would we treat executive coaching any differently?

Executive coaching is a business service, and is most effective when it is managed like all other business functions – following a process.

Is there ever a time when open-ended executive coaching is more desirable? There can be. May executives deeply value having a coach available just to provide that objective non-involved viewpoint and to offer an independent perspective? That clearly is one of they key value propositions of executive coaching. And this role can be done without really working on enhancing particular management strength or mitigating a weakness. But we see this type of coaching as more advising. Certainly, confidential counsel to an executive could be considered executive coaching. So, it is somewhat a matter of semantics. But for purposes of the Oakley Advisors forum, we will stay with the definition of executive coaching as a defined process for improving business skills and behaviors.

Jerry Kleinhaus

Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio

There is an enormous amount of information available on executive coaching. There are countless books, articles, and nearly 100 different web sites that offer free executive coaching newsletters. Most of these web sites also offer direct link email contact. Oakley Advisors also offers this service. The goal of our web inquiry service is to:

• Raise the awareness of executive coaching
• Quickly and clearly explain the many terms and concepts
• Point out the real differences in coaching techniques and philosophies
• And most importantly, explain the business benefits of executive coaching.

We PROMISE that we will NOT FOLLOW up your email requests with a SALES CALL or solicitation email. If you want to pursue our services, that would be great. But we genuinely feel that raising the awareness level of executive coaching in the business community benefits all involved. If answering you questions cause a business to engage qualified executive coaches, even if it is not ours, we have also benefited from that. All we ask is that you let us know that we helped and how we helped. Tell us how we did in answering your question. Let us know how well we help you understand what executive coaching is and how it can give you personally or your company tremendous results.

So, ASK JERRY KLEINHAUS. Send your questions directly to JERRY KLEINHAUS at info at oakleyadiviors.com.
ASK JERRY KLEINHAUS TODAY.

It is common for senior management to bring in executive coaches to work with their middle and upper management teams. But these same senior executives often do not take advantage of coaching themselves. This sends the wrong signal to the entire team. It deflates the value of the coaching in the eyes of the organization and robs the senior executives of the powerful benefits of coaching.

The reasons for this oversight are many, but the predominant one is that the senior team thinks they are doing everything well. Our answer to this type of behavior is to applaud the senior executives for recognizing the value of the coaching and, at the same time, urge them to give the same gift to themselves.

Jerry Kleinhaus

Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio

The discussion surrounding whether coaching should work on an individual’s strengths or weaknesses continues to heat up among the executive coaching community. The problem, as we see it at Oakley Advisors, is that most coaches see it as an “either or choice”, one way is right (effective in improving performance) and the other is wrong (a waste of time). Both groups make some pretty compelling arguments.

Our view is that the coaching experience is never that black and white. One of the most valuable aspects of executive coaching is that it is personalized to the individual.

We agree with the “weakness side” group that a weakness can be the thing that is holding someone back. But that is only the case if the weakness is in a critical needs area. If the weakness is not necessarily derailing – that is it is not is a critical area, then, as odd as this may sound, it probably is not worth working on. Indeed when it is worked on, the best one can hope for is that the coach shows the client how to work around the weakness. The weak area will never be strength for the client.

We agree with the “strengths side” coaches that organizations perform best when people are leveraging what they do and like best (their strengths). However, weaknesses that are in the way of performance should not be ignored.

We also agree that the heavy emphasis on addressing weaknesses that has dominated performance management systems for the last 30 years has been, in many ways, counter productive. Executives and managers should be aware of their weaknesses but only so that they can weed them out as much as possible. Appraisal systems that drive people to the maximum use of their strengths should also drive the organization to optimum performance. All the data resoundingly says that employees in these environments are consistently motivated and highly energized.

Jerry Kleinhaus

Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio