Global Mindset Coaching with CEOs differs greatly from other types of executive coaching.  However, it carries executive coaching’s general goal: helping people be their best selves by improving their behavior.  And, like other coaches, Gary believes that having passion for one’s industry is crucial to success.  For example, Gary has always had a passion to help people from different cultures understand each other, hence his philosophy of global mindset coaching.

Global Mindset Coaching: Gary’s specialized approach:

  • Working with fewer clients, but more in-depth with each client.
  • Working with one company/client for many years to understand their agenda and culture.
  • Working with the CEO and their direct reports to better understand group expectations.
  • Coaching only CEOs or CEOs in training. Coaching CEOs is unique because CEOs:
  1. Have to care about the media.
  2. Have to satisfy the board of directors.
  3. Have to satisfy shareholders. Recently, shareholders have pressured CEOs for more power, in a trend called “shareholder activism.”
  4. Have a high turnover rate; outside factors usually cause CEO replacement every two to three years.

Examples from Gary’s work:

  • Traveling with a coachee CEO to Iraq to build empathy for the challenges the CEO faced doing business in that country
  • Serving as an in-house counselor to many employees at a company after 9/11, thanks to the trust he had built after coaching at the company for many years
  • Helping Japanese and American SONY executives navigate work culture differences to understand that neither culture is superior; there are multiple ways to conduct business.
  • Helping Beijing based CEO use more flexibility when working with two dominating companies in a joint venture.

Global Mindset Coaching Key Takeaways:

  • Understand that there are multiple correct ways to reach the universal goal: profit. Therefore, one should study and consider other cultures’ differing business strategies.
  • Remember that sometimes, especially during international business, things happen that are outside of one’s control.

General Executive Coaching Takeaways:

  • To business executives: Give fewer, clearer messages/objectives. Reinforce the objectives with consistent rewards to promote employee alignment with the objectives.
  • To coaches: remember that criticism is sometimes difficult to hear and accept. Be considerate of your clients while giving them feedback.