Leadership Coaching Government leaders are discovering what many in the private sector have known for quite some time: To be an effective leader, you must invest time in your own professional and personal development. The Office of Personnel Management calls coaching “one of the most effective learning and development activities” and “a critical tool…[for] effective and efficient mission achievement and improved services to the American people.” Indeed, effective leadership is one of the most essential factors that affect government performance, and leaders must understand and cultivate the competencies needed to achieve meaningful outcomes for the diverse workforce, customers and stakeholders they serve. The Partnership for Public Service provides coaching services through a cadre of professional executive coaches certified by the International Coaching Federation. Having worked as—and with—leaders in the federal government, our coaches understand that federal leaders operate in an environment of constant flux. Whether it is leadership turnover, transition to hybrid work, or crises that impact the health and safety of the public and require a quick pivot, leaders are routinely asked to be adaptable and to lead others through change. To do this effectively, leaders need time and space for self-reflection and growth. Coaching offers a safe space for leaders, individually or in groups, to explore, experiment, reflect, and take stock of where they can capitalize on strengths and identify development opportunities that are unique to their journey. The Public Service Leadership Institute offers three types of coaching, provided as stand-alone services or integrated into a broader program or initiative. Meet our coaches For more information about coaching services and assessments, please contact: coaching@ourpublicservice.org One-on-One Leadership Coaching The Partnership provides one-on-one coaching to federal managers and executives, including senior political appointees. Our certified executive coaches guide leaders to reflect on their management styles, understand how to communicate more effectively with their teams, and work more constructively with internal and external stakeholders. Leaders gain new perspectives about their strengths, areas of passion and vulnerability, and opportunities for growth. Coaches provide a safe, supportive environment to explore what is and what is not working, and how to think, act and lead differently. Our approach to leadership coaching includes an optional 360 assessment, personalized coach matching, a proven goal-setting framework and optional sponsor alignment conversations. Packages range from three to 12 one-hour one-on-one coaching sessions that can be scheduled flexibly over four to 12 months. These packages help leaders identify actions and strategies that they can test on the job for immediate impact. The Partnership tailors coaching packages to the specific needs of individual leaders or groups of leaders. We also offer standardized coaching packages that individuals can purchase through their government leadership development budget. 2024 Standard One-on-One Coaching Packages Situational Leadership Coaching 3.5 hours total, including: The Public Service Leadership 360 or another 360 assessment instrument A 90-minute debrief of 360 results Two hours of leadership coaching Well-suited for leaders who are navigating a specific challenge and feel stuck. A skilled leadership coach helps uncover new perspectives and approaches for action and results. Leaders typically work on one or two of the following themes: Effective communication Creating greater awareness of self and others Leadership presence and confidence Managing conflict Stress management and burnout prevention Working through challenging team dynamics Fostering collaboration and innovation with peers, direct reports and teams Strategic Leadership Coaching 7 hours total, including: Personalized coach matching and a 30-minute chemistry/introductory call Public Service Leadership 360 or other assessment 90-minute debrief of assessment Five hours of coaching Ideal for leaders who are interested in assessing their leadership effectiveness and identifying opportunities to boost their professional development toward their next-level career goals. Leaders typically work on two or three of the following themes: Transitioning into a new role and/or expanded responsibilities Developing an intentional authentic leadership style Creating a healthy, effective team culture Refreshing/updating leadership approaches Developing an authentic, credible executive presence Shifting from reactive, urgency-driven management to purposeful, strategic leadership Promoting a culture of accountability and trust Transformational Leadership Coaching 12 hours total, including: Personalized coach matching and a 30-minute chemistry/introductory call Public Service Leadership 360 or other assessment 90-minute debrief of assessment 10 hours of coaching Designed for leaders who seek long-term support through coaching. Typical coaching objectives: Delivering on a significant vision or opportunity Articulating a compelling vision and translating it into a strategic direction Building a new team Managing organizations going through significant transitions Navigating and solving complex challenges Leading large-scale change Peer Group Coaching Peer group coaching is an effective strategy when a group of peer leaders face similar circumstances or have similar objectives, such as being new to their role or team, implementing new policies or designing new initiatives, managing up to new leadership or other typical middle management challenges. Coach-led facilitated discussions allow leaders to work through difficult problems in collaboration with peers. Participants openly share observations, offer challenges, and hold one another accountable for action on real-time issues and opportunities. They also drive discussion content to ensure it has immediate, direct application to their work. Sessions may be stand-alone or folded into existing meetings on a specified cadence, such as once every four to six weeks or quarterly. Focus areas might include building teams and engaging employees in a hybrid environment; resolving conflict; standardizing communication tools and processes; working outside of silos; and remaining flexible to changes in administrations. Team Coaching Team coaching helps teams collaborate more effectively to achieve challenging goals. Teams often struggle to make progress when discussing contentious issues, making high-stakes decisions, solving problems, executing projects or transitioning through organizational change. The executive coach gathers background information, discusses expectations with leadership and interviews team members one on one to gather perspectives about the current and desired state of the team, to identify opportunities for improvement and to understand team strengths. The coach learns about the organizational and team culture and structure, and works with the team, to refine desired outcomes. The coach also observes team meetings to identify real-time learning and application and offers guidance on how team dynamics impact the team’s ability to collaborate, share information and implement ideas. Finally, the coach guides members to take ownership of how they work together and helps them improve team performance. Public Service Leadership 360 Assessment The Partnership’s optional Public Service Leadership 360 assessment draws from our Public Service Leadership Model. Since June 2020, the assessment has been used by almost 2,000 federal leaders. Complementary and additive to the Office of Personnel Management’s Executive Core Qualifications, our model seeks to set the standard for effective federal leadership and identifies the core values leaders must prioritize, and the critical competencies they must master, to achieve their agencies’ missions and desired impact. High-performing agencies capitalize on the results and analysis of the 360 assessment reports to increase employee engagement, develop the next generation of leaders, demonstrate what effective leadership looks like when aligned with our Public Service Leadership Model competencies and more. Additional Behavioral and Personality Assessments Agencies may opt for leaders to take a behavior and/or personality assessment. For groups and team coaching, we recommend selecting one assessment so that leaders have a shared tool and language for understanding themselves, one another and their team’s composition. The DISC assessment (DISC = Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness) focuses on understanding one’s own behavioral tendencies and how they affect others. It supports understanding, appreciating and respecting individual differences, and developing strategies for working more effectively with others. The Clifton Strengths assessment helps participants identify, develop and apply strengths for individual success. Participants also learn the concept of overdone strengths, how to use a strengths-based approach when working within their team and how to recognize when they are engaging in an unproductive way. The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI®) assessment examines how an individual resolves conflict and typically behaves in conflict situations. Individuals develop the ability to assess the key attributes of these situations and, with practice, learn to choose behaviors—and quickly change them—depending on the circumstances they encounter. Partnership coaches are trained and certified in a broad range of additional assessment instruments. Coaching Engagement Management Coaching engagements are supported and enhanced through a government-tested and approved cloud-based engagement management system, Optify, that facilitates scheduling, resource sharing and private messaging between clients and coaches while maintaining full privacy and confidentiality of the coach-client relationship. Real-time engagement progress and the reporting of general coaching themes for groups can be made available through a secure sponsor portal. 100% browser based and mobile friendly Reporting dashboard helps engagements stay on track Coaching dashboard visualizes client progress at a glance Optify resource library of expert coaching content Full support from Optify's knowledge base and Customer Success Team Scheduling of sessions directly from Optify
