Summit Consulting and Training, the UK and Bahrain based leadership and management development company has announced the launch of its specialist executive and high-potential coaching service.

The new service, which has been painstakingly developed during the past three years, is intended to help key business executives and high-potential managers maximise their effectiveness and enhance employee engagement.

Scott Watson, Managing Director of Summit is one of the top leadership experts in the UK and has received great acclaim for his book “Win every time – essential lessons for existing and emerging leaders”. While focusing strongly on Summit’s expansion into the Arabian Gulf, Scott says he wants to ensure that UK leaders will have access to this new resource to make their lives easier. Summit’s top facilitators have pooled their knowledge and experience to make this new site a valuable tool for leaders in the UK and abroad.

More than ever before, business leaders and managers are under ever-increasing pressure to deliver more value for their company, their employees and of course eager investors. But according to a survey of over 100 senior corporate executives undertaken by Summit, many leaders do not have access to a specialist, expert executive coach who can assist them in tackling significant business challenges more effectively and help them to develop higher levels of employee engagement.

Speaking of the launch, Scott Watson said, ‘The current economic climate brings with it very different challenges than those faced during a period of economic growth or stability, and many leaders, whilst being technically brilliant, lack the very mature inter-personal skills, qualities and awareness to lead at or near their best on a consistent basis.’

But what did the survey results find?

78% of recipients stated that they did not currently have access to an executive coach, even though they thought they would benefit from such support

84% of recipients stated that they would prefer their company to recommend executive coach support rather than initiate it themselves

73% of recipients stated that they currently did not have time to participate in an executive coaching programme

but 86% stated that they believed they would benefit significantly by participating in an executive coaching programme

Commenting on the findings of the research, Watson stated, ‘It is apparent that many executives believe they can enhance their effectiveness by participating in an executive coaching programme, but they perceive the obstacle in their way is a perceived absence of time to do it. And he believes that it is this very belief that will cause some executives to carry on as they currently are, even though they believe that their current habits and practices aren’t adding best value to their employer. He continued, ‘If an executive witnessed one or more of their direct reports under-performing, losing focus and not delivering the best results in terms of quality, productivity, efficiency and value, I expect the executive wouldn’t think twice about addressing the person and the issue.’

And what does Watson see as the major stumbling block for executives not committing to an executive coaching programme? ‘There aren’t many employees who would be brave, or foolish enough to tell their boss that they weren’t performing as well as they should, and that’s the reason so many executives don’t receive the candid, supportive feedback they would benefit from so greatly.’ he concludes.

Author Bio: Scott Watson is author of ‘Win Every Time – Essential lessons for existing and emerging leaders’. More information is available on the Management Training web site, The Management Development Training website and the Emotional Intelligence Training website.

Category: Leadership
Keywords: management training, emotional intelligence training, leadership development