Michael Seelman, CEO & Executive CoachFor businesses big or small, this means approaching leadership as an evolving discipline - one that helps overcome complex challenges in a volatile world.This is where the Leadership Coach Group makes a difference for its clients.
The Leadership Coach Group understands these challenges and helps organizational leaders master them. They enable individuals and teams around the world to assess and enhance their leadership capabilities using science-based tools. They improve and strengthen organizational development through one-on-one and team coaching, inspirational speaking, and training. They bring the full gamut of leadership development services to your table.
In an interview with Manage HR, Michael Seelman, CEO & Executive Coach at Leadership Coach Group shares his insights on how his company delivers leadership development coaching, training, and assessments that enables their clients to meet the challenges of both the pandemic and the hyper-competitive global business environment.
Why did you create the Leadership Coach Group?
We created the Leadership Coach Group because we believe leadership matters and that it can be a force for positive change in the world. However, the demands of the modern business environment can overwhelm executives and managers. They may lose sight of their personal why, their desire to support their people, and serve their customers.
We help clients reconnect with their values so that they can live and work with a conscious sense of purpose. They can create environments where they and their employees are proud to work and harmonizes with other life goals beyond work.
Many of our clients hunger for a confidential thought partner that can really listen on deep level and help them bring forth their best selves. We enable them to reflect and manifest their brilliance. We can listen and empower them in this way be because we connect with each client on a personal level and champion their goals with genuine enthusiasm. We also challenge them in a way that bolsters their courage to take action towards their goals.
Who do you work with?
We collaborate with human resources and learning & development leaders in a way that feels effortless, integrates with other initiatives, and makes them shine.They see us as their partners for leadership growth.
Clients appreciate we’re large enough to have a diversified set of services, and nimble and flexible enough to meet their specific needs. Our coaches have served leaders of large international brands, including Amazon, Uber, Microsoft, Google, SAP, and Coinbase as well as small and medium-sized organizations.
Our team members’ experience as leaders in large organizations who have struggled and overcome diverse challenges is highly valued by clients. We've helped leaders grow in a wide variety of industries and at every level, including first-line supervisors, mid-level managers, and C-suite executives.
How have you enabled clients to overcome the leadership-related challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has bought?
The pandemic has been hard on many leaders and their teams. We've heard increased reports of burnout and resignations from hours of back-to-back Zoom meetings and feeling that their work is not valued. We enable them to be more focused, have the clarity to set a strategic vision, and be the calm, reassuring presence for their teams.
As well as our coaches working extensively with our clients, we provide other resources that help. This includes an e-book we released covering the topic of overcoming the psychological state of "languishing", and another about returning to work in the post-pandemic world. The Leadership Coach Group is well-positioned to help business executives to successfully transition to hybrid environments and retain talent. In fact, the president of a major telecommunicationscompany recently brought us in to share our return-to-work best practices at his leadership team retreat.
What kind of assessments do you bring to the table?
We offer several science-based assessments and knowledge-building tools, and ensure our services are suited to each client's unique needs.
Broadly speaking, there are two categories of assessments that we use. The first category is best described as personality assessments. They help leaders and, if they wish, their team members better understand their personality and leadership styles. These assessments include the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, DISC Maxwell Method Report, and the Enneagram Integrative 9. We also use the High 5 strengths finders test and the Core Strengths SDI 2.0 to help people identify their strengths and growth areas, as well as how to communicate during conflict. While these personality-based tests give people an awareness of their go-to leadership styles, we coach them on how to adapt their leadership approach depending on the environment and team member preferences. We help them flex their leadership style and be more successful in communicating and collaborating with diverse groups of people.
Give us a call at 202-953-6284, we would be honored to serve as your leadership growth partner
The second category is 360-degree leadership assessments. We use assessments such as the Leadership Circle Profile to help leaders understand their leadership traits and bring out their best selves. We also leverage the Global Leadership Assessment 360 (GLA360) co-created by Marshall Goldsmith, who is considered the world's #1 executive coach. Our coaches are certified in these tools that help leaders identify the areas to develop and succeed in a competitive business environment.
Perhaps the most powerful assessments are stakeholder interviews. By talking with the people our client works with every day - including direct reports, peers, and the leader's supervisor or board members we can provide detailed information about perceived strengths to celebrate and growth areas to address. Perhaps more importantly, we collect specific suggestions about how a client can demonstrate improvement and serve stakeholders better.We then work with our client to develop an action plan and help them stick to it and grow.
What value does the Leadership Coach Group provide with one-on-one coaching and team effectiveness services?
Leaders face distinct challenges depending on the level they're at. Emerging leaders often face challenges around inspiring their teams, delegating work effectively, and facilitating better communication. Rising leaders often look to build their executive presence and work more successfully with peers. Senior-level and C-suite leaders may need to set aside the time to think and execute strategically, guide subordinate leaders and work cultures, and develop crucial partnerships on the fly. For all these scenarios, the underlying value of our one-on-one leadership coaching is to give leaders the exact type of support they need, at the time they need it, to achieve their goals.
In team coaching the entire team is the client, not just the team leader. We develop a safe space for team members to discuss real barriers to inclusivity, collaboration, and high performance. This ultimately fosters deep relationships and an inherent drive among participants to work together to identify and address root challenges.
One of the tools we can use for team coaching is a Psychological Safety Scan. This was formulated by Harvard researcher Dr. Amy Edmondson and provided by The Fearless Organization. Psychological safety is defined as how comfortable people are in speaking up on a team, whether it's admitting a mistake, pointing out a mistake, asking a question, or suggesting an innovation. Research has revealed that when teams have high psychological safety, they're excellent at learning, which enables them to deliver outstanding performance in dynamic environments. We're one of the few organizations in the world authorized to administer and debrief the scan. We report out what we found and work with teams to get to a higher-performing state with high psychological safety.
What does the roadmap look like for Leadership Coach Group?
I am so grateful to our clients and my colleagues – Jerry, Kristin, Louise, Marie-Jeanne, Rob, Tim and Tushar – who have co-created our success to date.
In the future, we'll continue to listen deeply to our clients and fine-tune the skill sets, approaches, and technologies we use to champion their goals. This has always been our philosophy. When the pandemic hit, we launched a series of webinars that helped our clients serve their customers and lead their teams in a remote work environment during a public health emergency that required compassion, empathy, and flexibility. Our e-books on "languishing" and returning to work, as well as a focus on helping leaders retain key talent, address challenges clients are facing now.
We're committed to continually challenging ourselves to grow, innovate and remain a valued and trusted partner to our clients for effective leadership development in a very demanding and quickly evolving world Period.
