Executive Coaching Curriculum (6 Weeks)

Theme: Transforming Executive Conflict into Strategic Alignment

Week 1 – Foundations of Crucial Conversations & Self-Awareness

Focus: Introduction, psychological safety, and personal insight
Objectives:

• Define what constitutes a Crucial Conversation and why they break down

• Establish coaching goals and ground rules for respectful dialogue

• Begin to uncover personal communication triggers

Assessments:

• MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) — uncover cognitive styles and preferences

• Reflection Prompt: How does your MBTI type affect how you handle conflict?

Key Exercises:

• “Start with Heart” activity: Identify personal motives in current/recurring conflict

• Executive journaling: Document current tensions or ongoing challenges

Week 2 – Recognizing the Stories We Tell Ourselves

Focus: Understanding emotional reactions and narrative bias
Objectives:

• Learn to separate facts from stories

• Identify personal “path to action” and cognitive distortions

Assessments:

• Enneagram — explore core fears, desires, and growth paths

• Use Enneagram to reflect on personal narrative habits (e.g., avoider, confronter, harmonizer)

Key Exercises:

• Map a conflict using the “Path to Action” model (See/Hear → Tell a Story → Feel → Act)

• Guided role-play: Reframing emotional stories into objective facts

Week 3 – Building Mutual Purpose & Mutual Respect

Focus: Creating safe space for dialogue
Objectives:

• Learn tools to rebuild trust and reduce defensiveness

• Develop skills to clarify shared objectives and long-term goals

Assessments:

• StrengthsFinder — uncover natural talents that can support collaboration

• Explore how personal strengths may help or hinder crucial conversations

Key Exercises:

• Shared Values & Goals Mapping (use real executive conflict scenario)

• Partner dialogue practice: “I notice… I value… I hope…”

Week 4 – Mastering Your Emotions in Real Time

Focus: Emotional regulation under pressure
Objectives:

• Learn tools to pause, reflect, and choose productive responses in tense moments

• Identify personal stress cues and self-soothing strategies

Assessments:

• DiSC Communication Styles — decode reactions under stress

• Practice reading each other's DiSC tendencies in conversation

Key Exercises:

• “Make it Safe” Toolbox: Learn and apply AMPP (Ask, Mirror, Paraphrase, Prime)

• Real-play session with pause/reflect coaching

Week 5 – Speaking Persuasively Without Provoking Defensiveness

Focus: Blending candor with curiosity
Objectives:

• Learn to state your path while inviting others to share theirs

• Practice making bold statements while maintaining psychological safety

Key Exercises:

• “STATE” Model Application:

  • Share your facts

  • Tell your story

  • Ask for others’ paths

  • Talk tentatively

  • Encourage testing

• Team scriptwork: Rewrite a current difficult conversation using STATE

Week 6 – Integration, Repair, and Moving Forward

Focus: Conflict recovery and sustainable dialogue practices
Objectives:

• Develop personal action plans for future conversations

• Learn techniques for mending strained relationships

Key Exercises:

• Reflective Dialogues: Conduct a structured conversation with a previously conflicted colleague (live or via coaching simulation)

• Personal Conflict Blueprint: Each executive creates a 1-page guide outlining:

  • Triggers

  • Preferred communication style

  • Best ways to resolve tension

• Wrap-up assessment: Revisit MBTI/Enneagram insights with progress notes

Optional Add-Ons & Resources:

• Pre-Program 360 Feedback Survey (to identify perceived communication effectiveness)

• Crucial Conversations Companion Workbook

• 1:1 Coaching Touchpoints (between group sessions to deepen personal insight)

• Recommended Reading: “The Anatomy of Peace” by The Arbinger Institute (as post-program growth)

Exploring Sensitivity, Somatics, and Self-Awareness

Core Texts:

• The Highly Sensitive Person – Dr. Elaine Aron

• The Body Keeps the Score – Dr. Bessel van der Kolk

Target Outcomes:

• Increased self-awareness and self-regulation

• Enhanced interpersonal empathy and executive presence

• Embodied resilience and stress-reduction

• Practical integration of sensitivity as a leadership strength

WEEK 1: Sensitivity as Superpower

Theme: Understanding the HSP Trait & Creating Psychological Safety

Objectives:

• Define the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) and its relevance to leadership

• Explore your relationship to overstimulation and emotional attunement

• Establish goals and ground rules for emotional safety in coaching

Assessments:

• HSP Self-Test (Elaine Aron)

• MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator)

Reading/Reflection:

• The Highly Sensitive Person, Ch. 1–3

• Reflective Journal: “When have I felt too much—and what was my body telling me?”

WEEK 2: The Nervous System and Emotional Triggers

Theme: Somatic Awareness & Neurobiology of Stress

Objectives:

• Learn how trauma and sensitivity affect the brain and body

• Recognize stress and emotional hijacking in executive settings

• Map personal emotional triggers using somatic cues

Assessments:

• The Body Scan Exercise (guided somatic practice)

• Begin Enneagram Assessment

Reading/Reflection:

• The Body Keeps the Score, Ch. 1–6

• Somatic Map: Chart your stress response across one tough work week

WEEK 3: Identity, Personality, and Patterns

Theme: Enneagram & Shadow Integration

Objectives:

• Discover how personality patterns shape your emotional responses

• Identify "automatic" behaviors that undermine executive presence

• Begin shadow work and radical self-compassion

Assessments:

• Enneagram Full Report & Typing Interview (if possible)

• Begin StrengthsFinder (CliftonStrengths)

Reading/Reflection:

• Selected Enneagram Type Readings

• Journal: “What part of me takes the wheel under pressure? How can I meet it with curiosity?”

WEEK 4: Self-Regulation and the Emotional Brain

Theme: Regulation, Boundaries & Repatterning

Objectives:

• Practice emotional regulation strategies rooted in neuroscience and somatics

• Learn how to reset after overwhelm (polyvagal-informed tools)

• Build boundary-setting as a form of nervous system care

Assessments:

• DiSC Profile Assessment

• Embodied Leadership Exercise: Regulate in the moment using breath and grounding

Reading/Reflection:

• The Body Keeps the Score, Ch. 13–16

• Reflection: “What boundary is my body asking me to set?”

WEEK 5: Empathy, Communication & Executive Presence

Theme: From Sensory Overload to Leadership Clarity

Objectives:

• Refine emotional intelligence skills: empathy, presence, social awareness

• Communicate with clarity even when emotionally charged

• Translate your HSP traits into assets: deep listening, intuition, empathy

Practice:

• Feedback Role-Play: Give and receive emotionally charged feedback

• Use DiSC/MBTI types to tailor communication

Reading/Reflection:

• The Highly Sensitive Person, Ch. 7–10

• EQ Practice: Identify one conversation where emotional intelligence shifted the outcome

WEEK 6: Integration & Leadership Blueprint

Theme: Embodying the Emotionally Intelligent Executive

Objectives:

• Integrate all assessments into a coherent leadership identity

• Design a “Nervous System Maintenance Plan”

• Create a forward action plan for mindful leadership

Deliverables:

• Executive EQ Blueprint (personalized based on assessment synthesis)

• Closing Reflection: “What does emotionally intelligent leadership look like for me now?”

• Final Coaching Session: Feedback, celebration, and accountability structures

Supplementary Tools & Practices

• Breathwork, grounding, and body-awareness techniques

• Weekly journaling prompts and micro-reflections

• Empathy mapping and story-editing

• Optional: Insight Timer or Neurosculpting app for integration support