If coaching executive teams to reach better decisions is part of your coaching practice, you know that there are many topics to cover with your clients. Managing a team can be challenging and difficult, but coaching someone who is managing a team is even more difficult. But, if you can help your clients reach outcomes they are seeking, then you will have a steady stream of high-paying executive clients for years to come!

Can You Really Coach Executive Teams to Reach Better Decisions?

Coaching an executive team to reach better decisions is like coaching a youth basketball team. The young basketball players have to make wise decisions in the heat of the moment and within the framework of a team. You have to educate, communicate, and motivate!

To coach that basketball team properly, you have to stress the fundamentals – the basic of passing, dribbling, shooting, and defense. It’s the same with coaching executive teams. For them to make better decisions, they have to understand the fundamentals.

Key Accountabilities Are Fundamental to Executive Success

Key accountabilities include:

• A critical reason a job exists
• A result that is critical to performing a job well
• A result for which an employee or team member is responsible.

One of the hardest things to do when hiring someone or creating a position is to identify what that position requires to be successful. Identifying key accountabilities are not job descriptions – they are more of a list of criteria that defines success for a specific job or position.

Identifying Key Accountabilities for Success

The first step in identifying key accountabilities is to identify all of them for certain jobs, teams, or positions. In an executive team, you may have to identify key accountabilities for several different jobs or team members. Coaching an executive team to reach better decisions begins with identifying and listing key accountabilities.

How to List Key Accountabilities

The goal of listing is to come up with a raw list of results and responsibilities that are crucial to each job within the team. To do this you start by:

• Listing all tasks currently done within the team, including routine tasks, troubleshooting, project management, and all management and supervisory tasks.
• Listing all tasks that should be done, but are not currently being done by the team.
• Once you have the list of tasks, you then list the key results each team member is responsible for. What will the organization get if the tasks are done correctly? What significant result will happen because of certain tasks or jobs?

Coaching an executive team to reach better decisions starts with a list, but that list needs to be pared down to 3-5 items.

To help reduce the list, look at each key accountability listed and make sure each result can be measured and that each result will have a significant impact on the success of the organization.

Coaching an executive team to reach better decisions is not an easy task. However, if you can work with your clients to understand the importance of key tasks and results, and then help them develop a list of these key accountabilities, you’ll be on the way to finding those sometimes elusive outcomes for which clients pay hard-earned money!

Give this strategy a try and see for yourself that it works. If you liked this coaching tip, leave a comment or use the handy bookmark buttons below to share it with others on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, etc. Thanks!

Fred Philips
Business Coach
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