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Leadership Assessment Coaching and Consultation

The Center offers the administration, interpretation, and use of assessments for individual leaders and groups and customized facilitation based on the needs and goals of the unit or department. These assessments may be used in conjunction with other OL programs (i.e., Excellence in Higher Education, Strategic Planning) or may be offered as a stand-alone two-hour session using one of the following tools:

  • Clifton StrengthsFinder – Based on a 40-year study of human strengths, Gallup created a language of the 34 most common talents and developed the CliftonStrengths assessment to help individuals discover and describe these talents.
  • Leadership Competencies Scorecard – The Leadership Competencies Scorecard provides a competency-based framework for leadership effectiveness and allows individuals to rate their understanding and skill in each of the competencies.
  • Leadership and Communication Style Inventories – The Leadership Style Inventory and Communication Style Inventory were designed to help individuals reflect on and better understand their unique approaches to leadership and communication and those demonstrated by others in their unit, department, or organization.
  • Emotional and Social Competence 360 Inventory (ESCI) – Emotional and social intelligence play an important role in effective leadership practice in higher education. The Center for Organizational Leadership offers the administration of an Emotional and Social Competence 360 Inventory (ESCI) assessment, along with three follow-up coaching sessions, for academic leaders who seek to better understand perceptions of one’s effectiveness and to develop strategies for building their leadership capacity. For more information regarding the assessment and the coaching opportunities, please contact Christine Goldthwaite.

Executive and External Coaching and Consultation

As a hub for leadership development activities at Rutgers, we regularly coach and consult with individual leaders and departments engaged in leadership education program planning and design. Building on our research and applied work in this area, we assist units and departments in building robust, theory-informed approaches to leadership development and effective communication practice for multiple audiences. Additionally, OL offers the administration, interpretation, and use of assessment tool results for individual leaders and groups and customized facilitation based on the needs and goals of the unit or department. As time permits, we also provide advice and consultative services to external universities and associations in ways that align with the mission of the Center and the University.

Coaching for Program Alumni

As an added benefit for the participants of our leadership development programs (RLA, ALP-RBHS, PLDA, and DILAH), the Center provides personalized leadership coaching services on a limited basis.

What is Leadership Coaching?
Coaching provides participants and alumni of our leadership development programs with an opportunity to further examine their individual leadership challenges, experiences, and future goals through a series of structured and purposeful conversations.

What is a coach?
A coach is a trained professional who is knowledgeable in adult learning and development and certified in the practice of coaching. The coach enables program participants and alumni to deepen their learning, expand their thinking, and move toward action on agreed-upon goals.

How does the OL coaching process work?
Coaching occurs through a series of scheduled conversations focused on the continued growth and development of program participants and alumni. These conversations allow the individual to examine deeply held assumptions about one’s personal and professional experiences, increase clarity around strengths and potential for growth, and imagine new and/or different possibilities for moving forward in leading within academic contexts. Our coaching process in the Center for Organizational Leadership is informed by the concepts explored in our leadership development programs, providing participants and alumni with the opportunity to further explore their unique leadership experiences and goals.

What coaching is NOT?
Coaching is not mentoring, consulting, or therapy. Unlike mentoring that focuses on transferring knowledge and best practices from expert to mentee, coaching focuses on the individual’s own knowledge, creativity, and resourcefulness. Unlike consulting that focuses on having an expert design and implement solutions for problems, coaching places ownership and accountability on the individual. Unlike therapy that focuses on the past, coaching conversations tend to focus more on the future. Whereas therapy can be likened to “pulling weeds,” coaching can be likened to “planting a garden” (Annalise Matulewicz, 2019).

What about confidentiality?
Consistent with the International Coaching Federation’s code of ethics, our staff maintain the strictest levels of confidentiality. You can read more about ICF’s code of ethics here: https://coachfederation.org/code-of-ethics.

For more information about OL’s coaching services, contact:
Christine Goldthwaite, Ph.D., Associate Director of the Center for Organizational Leadership