SMG is Australia’s premier leadership development advisor. Since 1998, we’ve partnered with exceptional talent to elevate leadership skills and unlock organisational potential.
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Unlocking executive excellence
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Executive Coaching
A CEO’s unique context requires careful diagnostics by an experienced executive coach or mentor, who has also breathed the thin air of being a CEO. We take a highly adaptive and nuanced approach with frameworks and guidance to support the unique needs of a CEO.
Executive coaching enables participants to attain advanced levels of personal and professional performance aligned with the strategic priorities of the organisation. It provides insight and develops the vital skills and mindset for overall leadership effectiveness in the current business context.
C-Level executives of all types, from new to experienced, have a particular set of responsibilities unlike any others in the organisation, requiring a specific set of skills. SMG Executive Coaches and Mentors have walked in their shoes and offer a deep level of commercial acumen to accelerate performance and impact.
Executive mentoring provides the C-suite executive with a confidential environment to explore their role impact with a trusted advisor. Executives are matched with a highly trained SMG Mentor with commensurate corporate experience. By providing new perspective and insight, SMG Mentors enable the executive leader to meet and exceed their professional context-specific objectives.
Impactful CEOs make connections; they’re trusted to be in control; they are nimble and can adapt to different situations; they influence and inspire people to act. Whilst subject matter expertise may result in a leader being promoted into the CEO role, executive presence and impact does not come naturally to all. We support CEOs to navigate executive presence and how to be seen, heard and valued by board members, stakeholders and teams.
Establishing and building self awareness
Navigating relationships with priority stakeholders
Spotlighting macro and micro issues
Balancing company culture with performance outcomes
Refinement and enhancement of leadership style
Deepening understanding of personal wellbeing
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Engagements are set up for success through a comprehensive briefing with an SMG team member, combined with carefully selected coach/mentor meetings to fit the right fit for the leader.
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The coach/mentor takes the leader through a series of exercises to best understand the needs of the leader. This can include 360 assessments and 3rd party interviews. These are used to determine development areas and success outcomes.
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The coach works with the leader to build trust, rapport and understand patters of behaviour, including drivers and motivators. This enables the coach to hone in on focus areas to meet success outcomes.
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Outcome-oriented development goals are measured for impact on self, teams and organisation. To understand sustained impact, stakeholders are engaged for feedback and insights.
Deepen understanding of your own leadership style and how to maximise impact
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Understand the spectrum of relationships at CEO level and how they link to your success
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Leverage frameworks to to support ethical decision making and strategic planning
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Feel empowered with tools to ensure balance is maintained professionally and personally
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Sustainable leadership: An executive’s guide to improving wellbeing and managing stress
3 December, 2024 15 min
How to make it rain: Six leadership lessons from the professional services sector
8 October, 2024 13 min
The surprising reasons new CEOs fail—and what to do about it
2 September, 2024 17 min
Embracing disruption: How top financial services executives lead in a changing landscape
6 August, 2024 12 min
Navigating executive leadership transitions
18 June, 2024 12 min
What the best leaders do to minimise psychosocial risks in the workplace
30 April, 2024 14 min
What’s the difference between coaching and mentoring?
Executive coaching and mentoring differ primarily in their objectives. Executive Coaching is task-oriented, aiming to enhance defined skills, behaviors, and performance. Coaches provide structured feedback and hold executives accountable, helping them achieve measurable outcomes related to business objectives.
Mentoring is more relationship-focused and often involves long-term career and personal development. Mentors, in most cases are senior individuals with lived experienced in a similar industry or profession to that of their mentee, and provide guidance based on their own experiences.
What does SMG offer that’s different to other coaching and mentoring services?
Many coaching firms offer coaches with formal coaching qualifications. What sets SMG apart is the additional lived experience and commercial acumen of our Executive Coaches and Mentors. They have walked in the shoes of leaders, and bring with them decades of leadership experience. They understand the pressures faced at all levels of leadership.
How do I know if it is the right time for me to be coached?
There is no right or wrong time for executive coaching. We look at leadership on a continuum, constantly being refined based on new experiences, regardless of career stage. Our team can work with you to define your objectives, challenges or obstacles, and determine the most appropriate modality to address your needs.
How do you measure the impact of executive coaching?
Thorough impact assessments are a fundamental component of all SMG coaching, mentoring and leadership development programs. To provide depth of insight, we undertake 360 reviews, assess goal outcomes and interview 3rd parties. We assess impact on the individual, team and organisation.
How do I select a coach? How will I know if an executive coach is the right coach for me?
After establishing a comprehensive brief with one of the SMG team members to understand what you are hoping to achieve from your coaching or mentoring engagement, we provide you with Executive Coach/Mentor options based on our extensive network of experienced associates. We consider coach specialisations and how they best fit with your individual needs. Following this, a meeting with each coach helps you to determine which coach is the right fit for you.
If the coach isn’t familiar with my work and life, how can they help me?
All of SMG executive coaches are qualified across one or more of the following areas: executive coaching, organisational psychology and clinical psychology. This provides all SMG Associates with a range of foundations and frameworks in which to apply during your sessions. They do not need to know detailed information about your work and life circumstances to be able to support you. They are trained in asking the right questions to get to the core of the issues and strategies to overcome obstacles.
Does executive coaching involve a psychometric tool?
There are many diagnostic tools available in executive coaching. These are used to help both the leader and the coach to gain a better understanding of blind spots and areas of development. At SMG, we are agnostic in regard to which tools we use. If you are not comfortable with the use of psychometric testing, this can be discussed with your coach or mentor and an alternative solution identified.
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