EXECUTIVE COACHING

WITHIN ORGANIZATIONS

Executive Coaching within Organizations

All our Corporate Executive Coaching engagements are custom-made to fit the specific needs of your organization and of the leaders we coach within the organization. By aligning the development needs of the individual with the objectives of the organization, we further the leadership capabilities within your company and increase leadership effectiveness.

Our Executive Coaching Programs are focused on C-suite executives, senior leaders, middle managers and high potentials. The Corporate Executive Coaching process promotes self-awareness, includes customized assessments and develops action-oriented planning, along with constructive feedback and accountability to ensure the most effective results.

Executive coaching can be combined with a confidential 360 feedback process to increase a leader’s understanding of how he/she is perceived in the organization.

A confidential 360 feedback process helps increase a leader’s understanding of how he/she is perceived in the organization.  Managers, peers, direct reports and others in the organization are interviewed around topics of strengths and areas of development for the participant. Typically certain themes emerge.  The 360 feedback will highlight unique strengths to leverage as well as areas of development that a leader may either not be aware of, or may not appreciate the consequences of. A 360 can be a catalyst for positive change and coaching on the results of the 360 helps the leader use this information to accelerate advancement.

360

Coaching Within Organizations

“Arjan is a gifted, intuitive and strategic executive coach, the kind of coach that is few and far between. She is a tremendous asset to IKEA and has supported many leaders in different areas of the organization. Arjan simultaneously challenges and deeply supports our leaders so they can achieve maximum growth. Her coaching is grounded in research, yet always practical and she uses her knowledge about neuroscience to educate our leaders on effective communication and a positive mindset, two elements crucial to sustained success. Drawing on her rich experience as an executive coach, she has a natural aptitude to combine both business and individual goals. Leaders tackle real-time problems with her, which she consistently ties back towards the greater journey they are on. Calm in crisis, she always stays focused on the bigger picture, understanding which levers to pull and how to empower her clients to advance. I can’t thank her enough for the impact she has created and can highly recommend her to any Chief HR Executive looking to grow their people and business results.”

Simon Lowes – Chief Human Resources – USA, IKEA

“Arjan has been a strong partner over many years. She combines her business and people skills into high level results for our company. She helps our leaders become more effective in their role and supports their personal development. Our executives very much appreciate working with her and consistently speak about her high business acumen and great understanding of leadership. They highlight her ability to build trust, listen effectively, educate and challenge them to create forward momentum towards their goals. They especially appreciate her integrity, confidentiality, and wisdom.”

Richard Mellor, EVP Global Chief Human Resources, R/GA

“Arjan brings professional rigor and emotional depth to each of our conversations. I’ve been coached by Arjan for about 2 years, through some very complex and challenging career events. She has an extraordinary ability to synthesize all important factors, bring clarity to opportunities and focus on how to approach them. Even though I’m a pretty lucid thinker, Arjan’s counsel always clears fog from the road ahead. Somehow, she retains (in shockingly vivid detail) each step in the long journey; but can zoom out at any time to see the shape of everything. It is refreshing to work with her, as she combines her strategic, results-oriented approach with a deep level of compassion and wonderful sense of humor. I continue to work with Arjan, and benefit immensely.”

Nick Law – Chief Creative Officer Publicis Groupe, President Publicis Communications at Publicis Groupe

“Arjan combines a high measure of gravitas, a refreshing straightforward approach and a deep level of compassion with an acute business sense. She provides sharp insights, practical advice and honest feedback, which was pivotal to rethinking and improving my communication style. Through her expert guidance, I evolved my leadership style and executive presence. Arjan is brilliant, but humble; visionary, but grounded; logical, but intuitive.”

Neil Hampshire – CIO, ModusLink

Rarely am I at a loss for words until I have to describe someone as brilliant as Arjan. She coached me through a complex merger that was fraught with challenges at every turn and level. Her ability to cut through the chaos, pinpoint the issues, and provide clarity, ensures that the best paths forward are always revealed. She delivers the unvarnished truth with equal parts empathy and compassion, providing actionable guidance at every step. And, at the most difficult moments, she remains in your corner with unrelenting encouragement, warmth and humor. For anyone seeking to grow or change, Arjan is your beacon.

Sherine Kazim, Chief Experience Officer, Wunderman Thompson

“Arjan is a fantastic executive coach, a great supporter, and has been invaluable for my career. She has an admirable capacity to bring clarity to complicated business situations, interpersonal relationships, thoughts and emotions. She creates simplicity by discovering the underlying challenges and opportunities and by always providing a practical and solution-oriented approach. Through collaborating with Arjan, I have developed a greater level of clarity in my work by prioritizing my most important business and individual leadership goals. I have become a better leader; my confidence has increased, we have exceeded our business goals, I have established an effective leadership style, and I have a much broader toolkit available for my own development and the development of my teams. Arjan’s exercises are simple, direct, and very effective. I love working with her and look forward to learning from her business insights, international perspective and general wisdom in every meeting.”

Paola Colombo, Google – Chief of Staff, SumUX

“Arjan is a bloody amazing human being, a gifted coach. She performed a 360 feedback, which was frankly, life-altering. I learned about strengths, I didn’t appreciate in myself before, and how to leverage them to increase my effectiveness. She helped me absorb my weaknesses, to see them objectively, tackle and minimize them. For the first time, in my career, I feel more in control, more empowered, and more self-assured of my abilities.”

Auge Reichenberg, Chief Creative Director, McCann HumanCare

“When I took the role of President at Wunderman NYC, I was clear that I wanted to work with an experienced and highly regarded Executive Coach. I selected Arjan as she came strongly recommended by industry leaders. It was the right decision, as working with Arjan greatly accelerated my integration as a new leader. She interviewed stakeholders, wrote a comprehensive report on the organization which fast-tracked my understanding of the environment, culture, the challenges and opportunities. She helped me develop a vision for the organization, build a cohesive and effective team. Arjan is direct and calls a spade a spade, but it is her warmth, care and great understanding of people and business, that makes her an outstanding coach. Her energy, natural courage, and positive outlook are contagious and I walk away from each meeting with new insights that I can immediately apply. Arjan truly goes the extra mile for her clients. She is a phenomenal partner for anyone who is starting in a new leadership role.”

Helder Santo, President Wunderman New York

“Arjan’s guidance is direct, insightful and clear. She has a wealth of experience and provides great wisdom navigating complex strategic situations. I was originally hired as CFO and within a year promoted to also take on the COO position. I can’t imagine being where I am today in my career without her guidance.”

Jennifer Solomon – COO & CFO, Arts Students League of New York

“Arjan is a phenomenal executive coach. She has profound expertise in leadership development, communication and emotional intelligence. Arjan helped me create successful frameworks for solving the most complex strategic and human resource challenges. She is insightful, articulate and has a deep commitment to excellence. I have become a better leader as a direct result of our work together.”

James Gomez – Division President, CalAtlantic Homes

“Arjan combines business knowledge with people insight. She possesses profound positive intelligence and superb communication skills. She walks the talk and lives by her principles. Arjan helped me evolve my thinking to successfully navigate complex situations presented by a rapidly growing and transforming business, leadership changes and a take-over. My team and I delivered superior results and I thank Arjan for her guidance.”

Terry Stack – VP Treasurer, Harman International

“I immediately thought of Arjan, when I needed to engage an inspirational speaker for an industry event on the topic of confidence and women leadership. Deeply knowledgeable about business, leadership, interpersonal relationships and communications, Arjan offers tremendous value to her audiences. With her unwavering positive demeanor and deep passion, she has an uncanny ability to inspire a room full of people. Her expertise, practical advice and goal-oriented focus ensure that every person leaves her presentations with clear tools and tips that they can immediately apply to enhance their leadership skills. Her charismatic style as well as her flair to truly connect make her a great presenter for a large audience and a powerful facilitator of workshops.”

Chloe Gottlieb, Director Product Design, Google Aps, NY – Former Chief Creative Officer R/GA

“Arjan is an extremely skilled executive coach and organizational strategist. She presents to hundreds of attendees at our iRelaunch Return to Work Conferences and consistently gets top ratings. She has also been a popular and well-regarded coach of our group coaching program. More recently she has taken on an important role with our corporate initiatives. Arjan demonstrates integrity, excellence and an energy level matched by few.”

Carol Fishman Cohen – CEO, iRelaunch

“An exceptional organizational consultant, Arjan supported the scaling of our organization.  She increased alignment within the management team positively impacting company culture. She enhanced collaboration between my Head of Operations and myself, while we were managing a major change, creating greater understanding for each other’s point of view, work approach and communication style, resulting in better outcomes. Our staff calls her the “engineer whisperer.”

Jamie D’Agostino, Founder of Netology

Coaching themes could focus on:

Leadership Development

  • Developing executive presence
  • Creating a personal brand
  • Increasing visibility
  • Leaning in
  • Developing a career plan
  • Building confidence
  • Positive Intelligence
  • Developing a strong mindset
  • Reducing Stress

Strategy

  • Strategic Thinking
  • Goal setting
  • Increasing effectiveness
  • Time Management

Communications and Relationships

  • Effective Communication
  • Conversational Intelligence
  • Building stronger relationships
  • Networking

Team Building

  • Effective delegation
  • Building a cohesive and effective team
  • Creating productive work environments
  • Reducing conflict
  • Developing others

Transitions

  • Onboarding
  • Transitioning to a new role

We coach executives, middle managers and high potentials, with a focus on three main areas:

  1. Enhancement of leadership skills
  2. Greater engagement and fulfillment for the individual
  3. Improvement of overall performance to meet company goals

 

 

 

Our Executive Coaching Methodology is focused on six A’s:

The entry point to this synergistic process creates increased awareness and greater clarity about the current business situation and an individual’s leadership style.

Company Goals

In addition to increasing leadership potential, the coaching engagement typically focuses the executive on the company’s strategic business objectives, such as setting strategic direction, prioritization of initiatives, the processing of innovative business ideas and/or models, changing a team culture and  improved team communications. We address specific opportunities and challenges the leader is facing.

Leadership Development Goals

Awareness of one’s own proclivities, interests, experiences, management skills and professional abilities is the foundation to unlocking an executive’s full leadership potential.

Through a dynamic dialogue and collaborative partnership, combined with a variety of assessments, we help clients create a greater awareness about their distinctive strengths, areas of development and opportunities for growth. Assessments and data collections can be comprehensive or more limited, depending on a company’s need. The data collection can take a variety of forms, such as 360-degree feedback, performance evaluation, personality and leadership assessments. We are specialized in many leadership assessment methodologies, such as the MBTI I & II (Myers Briggs Type Indicator), the STRONG Interest Inventory, the Hogan Leadership Assessments,  and the 360 Clark Wilson Feedback process. These assessments are used to gain greater insights into clients’ values, interests and natural tendencies around topics such as communication, decision making, conflict resolution, and managing change.

Each leader is different. Sustained success and fulfillment can only be achieved if a leader taps into his/her unique strengths to develop a leadership style that truly fits with his/her personality. Developing greater insight into the natural tendencies and unique qualities of the leader and supporting each leader to develop an authentic leadership style will not only bring about increased leadership effectiveness but also lead to a greater ease  in steering a department or organization and therefore more fulfillment and engagement for the leader.

With clarity about a leader’s unique strengths and opportunities for development, we help our clients identify clearly defined and manageable objectives, create concrete plans, acquire new knowledge, access advanced tools, and take the steps necessary to achieve the desired goals. Each action plan is unique to the individual clients and their companies. Depending on the length of the engagement, we typically address two or three main focus areas.

An individual’s leadership growth and development hinges on increased self-awareness, broadened knowledge, the use of specific tools and techniques and the commitment to a well-defined action plan. To ensure this success, we incorporate a method for accountability and support. Progress is tracked and evaluated, and obstacles are defined and overcome in order to most clearly delineate an enduring course of action.

The above-described process leads to achievement — allowing the leader to create a greater impact towards the vision of the organization, improving his/her individual leadership and communication skills, and experiencing a greater level of personal fulfillment. This creates a trickle-down effect in the organization towards his/her team and peers.  Individual growth within a company’s executive leadership ranks permeates throughout the entire organization as overall efficiencies increase, communication is more effective and workplace culture and morale improve.

We specifically target sustained achievement by developing a higher level of mindfulness and Positive Intelligence.  While leaders’ knowledge of their field and their leadership skills determine their potential, it is their positive intelligence that helps them live up to that potential. This process requires a deeper level of self-examination and mindfulness in order to invoke a growth mindset and an authentically optimistic and solution-focused approach. As we understand that success is closely related to the building of strong relationship and high performing teams, we help our clients to develop Conversational Intelligence, leading to relationships embedded in trust, respect and collaboration. Ultimately, this approach leads to sustained achievement, where an individual can create his/her greatest impact and become more personally fulfilled.

Our goal is not only to empower our clients to provide and develop new skills and behaviors, but also to encourage an individual to rethink his/her attitude and approach to short and long-term scenarios. Over-arching career, business and personal goals as well as positive resolutions to day-to-day impediments are envisioned with positive, realistic outcomes.