Executive Coaching & Development Flashcards

DDI's STAR model (Situation, Task, Action, Result) is primarily used in executive coaching to:

Answer: Elicit and evaluate behavioral evidence of leadership competencies

STAR is DDI's behavioral interviewing framework used to draw out specific past examples that reveal how executives have actually demonstrated competencies.

When coaching an executive on strategic agility, a DDI-certified coach would prioritize which developmental activity?

Answer: Assigning cross-functional stretch projects requiring rapid pivots and ambiguity tolerance

DDI's development philosophy centers on experiential learning — real-world stretch assignments that force leaders to practice agility under genuine uncertainty.

In a DDI Acceleration Pool, what differentiates a 'high-potential' from a 'high-performer'?

Answer: High-potentials demonstrate learning agility and readiness to take on roles of greater scope

DDI defines high-potential by learning agility, aspiration, and capacity for increased scope — not just by current performance metrics.

Which coaching approach does DDI recommend when an executive's 360 feedback reveals blind spots the executive strongly disputes?

Answer: Use additional data sources — direct observation, customer feedback — to triangulate the pattern

DDI recommends triangulating disputed feedback with multiple data sources so the executive encounters consistent evidence that's harder to dismiss.

The DDI concept of 'interaction essentials' is MOST relevant to executive coaching because:

Answer: They form the behavioral foundation that enables effective leadership relationships at any level

Interaction essentials — maintaining self-esteem, empathizing, involving and sharing — underpin every effective leadership interaction and are foundational to DDI's entire coaching methodology.

During executive coaching, a coachee sets an overly ambitious development goal that seems unachievable within the coaching timeline. The DDI-aligned response is to:

Answer: Collaborate to break the goal into milestones that are challenging yet achievable within the timeline

DDI coaching emphasizes collaborative goal-setting that balances stretch with realism, preserving motivation while ensuring measurable progress is possible.

According to DDI, which factor most strongly predicts whether executive coaching will produce lasting behavior change?

Answer: The executive's active commitment to practice new behaviors between sessions

DDI research consistently shows that behavior change requires deliberate practice outside the coaching session; the coachee's commitment between sessions is the most critical factor.