Coaching is now recognized as a powerful lever for the development of companies and their CEOs.

According to the PWC study commissioned by the International Coach Federation, more than 70% of leaders who received coaching from a coach note a significant improvement in their professional performance and in the quality of their communications with their teams.

In addition, companies that have invested in coaching see an increase in productivity and a better achievement of their goals.¹.

But beyond these operational benefits, How does executive coaching influence the governance of a company?

To answer this question, we will first define what executive coaching is, then we will examine its impacts on the company and its governance, before identifying best practices in the field, and finally illustrating our point with concrete case studies.

What does professional executive coaching consist of?

The executive coaching Is a personalized support for senior CEOs of an organization, such as CEOs or managing directors.

This approach is carried out in partnership with an experienced coach, who helps CEOs to:

• develop their strategic skills
• optimize their performance
• align their personal goals with those of the business
• strengthen leadership posture...

In this sense, executive coaching is proving to be an investment that goes beyond the simple framework of personal development, by directly impacting corporate governance.

Indeed, by strengthening his leadership skills, the CEO is more effective in inspiring his teams, managing transformations and establishing a corporate culture in accordance with the key principles of good governance.

Why is executive coaching crucial for governance?

Executive coaching is not limited to individual development: it has a profound impact on the structure and the quality of corporate governance.

1. Strengthening key governance skills

Coaching helps leaders develop fundamental governance skills : strategic decision making, stakeholder management, clear communication of business goals.

A better trained leader contributes to making decision-making more transparent and inclusive, helping to consolidate the governance of the organization.

2. Improving interactions and corporate culture

By improving the emotional intelligence of leaders and their relational skills, coaching contributes to the establishment of a climate of trust and mutual respect.

These human qualities reinforce cohesion within governance bodies and facilitate constructive exchanges at all levels of hierarchy.

3. Change Management and Organizational Agility

The current economic situation, which is often complex and unpredictable, requires businesses to be highly adaptable.

Coaching allows leaders to adopt an agile posture in the face of change, thus promoting the resilience of governance.

4. Well-being of the CEO and sustainability of leadership

A successful leader who is confident in his abilities is better able to provide stable and sustainable leadership.

Executive coaching thus helps to prevent professional burnout and to maintain a long-term vision, which is essential for a responsible and sustainable governance.

5. Positive impacts on the organization, its governance and its performance

Finally, it is important to emphasize that the benefits of coaching go well beyond the individual, positively impacting the entire organization.

This results in more agile change management and overall growth in corporate performance.

In short, executive coaching is a major strategic lever for any leader who wants to develop their leadership, improve their personal performances and actively contribute to the collective success of their organization and its good governance.

Corporate governance and the role of CEOs: how to

Understanding the link between corporate governance and leadership: an essential reminder

According to the definition of the standard ISO 26000²,” Organizational governance is the system by which an organization makes decisions and applies them in order to achieve its goals...”

More specifically, corporate governance refers to the set of rules and practices that govern how a business is run.

It aims to ensure transparent decision-making and to ensure that the interests of all parties involved — shareholders, CEOs, employees and investors — are not only well respected, but also fairly distributed.

It is essential for any CEO to make governance a priority and to train for this mission.

Its delicate objective: to achieve an equitable distribution of powers between management, management and all stakeholders.

The main actors and types of corporate governance

Corporate governance is based on several essential pillars, including:

• The board of directors: It is the central governance body, responsible for overseeing the company's overall strategy and validating the main guidelines.
• Shareholders: owners of shares in the company, they participate in major decisions during general meetings.
• Governance committees: these subcommittees of the board of directors are responsible for studying specific issues such as audit missions, appointments and executive remuneration.
• Executive management: responsible for day-to-day operational management, this committee supports the managing director in his decision-making and ensures the application of the decisions of the board of directors.

This point on the main actors in governance makes it important to know that companies have the choice between two main types of governance.

Shareholder governance, more traditional, focuses on the expectations of shareholders by aiming above all at the profitability of their investments.

On the other hand, The partnership governance takes a more comprehensive approach taking into account the interests of all stakeholders. It pushes CEOs to balance economic performance, environmental impact and social responsibility.

Today, faced with the challenges of sustainable development, corporate governance must fully integrate social and environmental responsibility, in order to ensure sustainable and responsible growth.

The different forms of coaching for business leaders

Coaches specialized in supporting CEOs offer a wide range of approaches adapted to different needs:

• classic individual coaching, face-to-face
• personalized remote coaching sessions
• or collective coaching, ideal for large organizations wishing, for example, to support a CEO and his management committee.

VISCONTI Partners provides a fully tailor-made coaching offer, designed to precisely meet the expectations of CEOs and senior CEOs, regardless of the size or sector of their company.

Like sports coaches, our coaches — who are themselves entrepreneurs — support CEOs of large groups, but also those working in start-ups, SMEs, family holdings or even public organizations.

What are the best practices in corporate governance?

Corporate governance is based on fundamental principles that contribute to its robustness and credibility.

Although their formulation varies between organizations, these pillars are generally common to most modern governance models, especially in a partnership-based approach:

1. The independence of directors: this principle ensures that the board of directors maintains full autonomy to defend the interests of the company as a whole, and not only those of its CEOs.
2. Integrity: it is a question of respecting not only the laws and regulations in force, but also of applying high standards of ethics, safety and respect for employees.
3. Responsibility and accountability: governance concerns all stakeholders. It therefore implies a duty to be accountable not only to shareholders, but also to all the actors concerned.
4. Strategic planning: this consists in regularly questioning the company's strategy and closely monitoring the actions taken to ensure their effectiveness.
5. Transparency: clear and accessible communication is essential for effective corporate governance. It goes beyond the framework of shareholders alone to include all stakeholders, internal and external.
6. Equity and diversity: these values promote balanced representation within governance bodies, whether in terms of diversity of profiles or gender parity, with emphasis on skills and the ability to effectively represent stakeholders.
7. Respect for the environment: Today essential, the integration of ecological issues and sustainable development into governance is both a regulatory requirement and an ethical responsibility.
8. Adaptability : governance principles must be adjusted to the size and specificities of each organization. Expectations and governance methods differ between a multinational and a small local business.

Coaching to support CEOs at all stages of their function

Executive coaching is invaluable at each key stage of their career.

Taking office as a CEO

One of the most frequent situations in which coaching is particularly useful concerns taking up a position.

This pivotal moment requires CEOs to adopt new postures in line with their increased responsibilities and to adjust their interactions within the organization.

He then enters a different dynamic, where he must find the right distance with his teams to establish effective leadership.

The success of this transition is also decisive, because the performance of a CEO over three years is closely linked to the quality of his beginnings.

At VISCONTI Partners, this stage is approached as a strategic project to be carried out within a limited time frame, A 100-day challenge to which is added an essential preparation phase.

With a solid experience in supporting new positions, our coaches guide CEOs in preparing ahead of time, mobilizing teams, developing a new strategy, adjusting governance and implementing short-term actions to overcome the critical challenges of their beginnings.

The CEO's term of office

Beyond taking up a position, coaching also supports CEOs in the daily exercise of their role.

The coach then becomes a real thinking partner, stimulating the strategic thinking of the CEO and helping him to deepen his identity as a leader as well as his strategic choices.

This work encompasses the development of influence, the assertion of communication, the effective management of time and energy,support for major transformations, or even crisis response and reflections on strategy and governance.

The objective is to help the CEO to fully embody responsible leadership that is in line with current business challenges.

The evolution of the CEO

Coaching also has a place in the career development of a CEO.

In this context, his coach helps him to know himself better in order to guide his future projects, whether entrepreneurial or employee, and to secure his interests as well as those of his company when he plans to leave.

Case studies on the effectiveness of executive coaching

VISCONTI Partners supports CEOs, management committees and administrative committees in their various challenges.

Here are some examples of support provided by our coaches that has a significant impact on the governance of the companies concerned.

SMEs Public relations consulting sector: taking office and setting up a management team

Faced with the departure of the managing director, this SME of 100 employees had to ensure a delicate transition with the assumption of office of its new CEO while building a solid management team.

VISCONTI Partners supported this process from start to finish, helping to define a five-year strategic vision, engage stakeholders, conduct an organizational audit and recruit new directors.

The partner coach also worked to strengthen the performance of the management committee and to streamline internal communication.

The result: one Successful assumption of leadership, a clear roadmap, better distributed responsibilities, strengthened leadership and very positive feedback from employees on this new dynamic.

Large company Industry sector: rethinking its strategy to boost the growth of its 10 business units.

In another case, concerning a large industrial company, the challenge was to Challenging the strategy of a Division Director overseeing ten business units.

VISCONTI Partners supported this CEO in the preparation of semi-annual seminars, the consolidation of individual strategies, the optimization of the general organization and the personalized coaching of several business unit CEOS.

The result : this coaching has made it possible to improve team cohesion, to strengthen the global strategy and to create more agile and efficient governance.

To conclude, surrounding yourself with a coach is a valuable resource for any CEO and governing body wishing to strengthen their skills, improve their decision-making and build solid corporate governance.

VISCONTI Partners is positioned as an ally of choice thanks to its personalized approach and the experience of its coaches, themselves former CEOs or CEOs of medium to large companies.

Their tailor-made support is aimed at HR CEOs who want to support their leaders, as well as to CEOs themselves in search of excellence and growth.

To explore the concrete benefits of such growth management, VISCONTI Partners is at your disposal to discuss and build together a coaching program adapted to the ambitions and challenges of your company.

sourcing

1 International Coach Federation Global Coaching Study commissioned by PWC, 2016 (study covering 137 countries).

2 Governance and sustainable development: user manual, ecologie.gouv.fr.