Executive Coaching Is Hot
Driving the trend in executive coaching is the booming
economy which makes good staff hard to get and harder to keep. In the need for constant
change to stay competitive, companies see coaching as a way to help valued employees
develop swiftly in the changing business environment.
A growing number of Fortune 500 companies offer executive
coaching to their top people. Whether hiring external coaches or training their own
leaders in coaching skills, companies are finding that coaching is essential for creating
change and evolving people towards their highest productivity and potential.
Research shows that the quality of the relationship between
manager and employee is a major predictor of an employee's intentions to remain in an
organization (Buckingham and Coffman, 1999). Coaching helps managers talk with
subordinates about their developmental needs. There's a potential big payoff in developing
positive relationships through coaching.
A brief definition of coaching as formulated by the
International Coach Federation:
Professional coaching is an ongoing partnership that
helps clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and professional lives. Through
the process of coaching, clients deepen their learning, improve their performance, and
enhance their quality of life.
The Executive Summit of the ICF further defines executive
coaching as a facilitative one-to-one mutually designed relationship between a
professional coach and a key contributor who has a powerful position in the organization
The focus of the coaching is usually upon organizational performance or development, but
may have a personal component as well.
Executive coaching can be very useful in helping executives
carry what they learn in training situations, such as leadership development programs, to
the workplace and in putting those lessons into practice. One study examined the effects
of executive coaching in a public sector municipal agency. Thirty-one managers underwent a
conventional managerial training program, which was followed by 8 weeks of one-on-one
coaching. Training increased productivity by 22.4%. The coaching, which included goal
setting, collaborative problem solving, practice, feedback, supervisory involvement,
evaluation of end results, and a public presentation, increased productivity by 88%, a
significantly greater gain compared to training alone (Olivero, Bane, & Kopeirnan
1997). If the observations from this study bear out, it means that executive coaching
coupled with management and leadership training can boost productivity and help build
leadership competencies.
The objectivity that an executive coach brings to a
developmental opportunity is helpful to managers seeking to make difficult changes in
attitudes, work habits, perspectives and interpersonal relationships
(McCauley & Hughes-James, 1994; Young & Dixon,
1996.)
There seems to be little question that coaching is a valid
method of producing desired change with leaders. Companies that have employed coaches will
agree that, overall, there are performance improvements, as well as improved well-being
among participants.
About 6 out of 10 organizations currently offer coaching or
other developmental counseling to their managers and executives according to a survey by
Manchester, Inc., a Jacksonville, Florida, career management consulting firm. Another 20%
of companies said they plan to offer such coaching within the next year.
Top reasons for offering coaching include:
- sharpening the leadership skills of high-potential
individuals (86%);
- correcting management behavior problems such as poor
communication skills, failure to develop subordinates, or indecisiveness (72%);
- ensuring the success, or decreasing the failure rate, of
newly promoted managers (64%);
- correcting employee relations problems such as poor
interpersonal skills, disorganization, demeaning or arrogant behavior (59%);
- providing the required management and leadership skills to
technically oriented employees (58%).
What makes a masterful coaching experience, one that
provides long-lasting and magnificent results?
On the face, coaching sounds like simple goal setting with
accountability and motivational pep talks thrown in. The athletic coach comes to mind,
transformed into a business-like version. Even Ken Blanchard co-authored a book with Don
Shula, Everyone's A Coach. But the truth is, not everybody is a masterful coach.
The work of truly effective coaching within organizations
involves much more than goal-setting. It involves unleashing the human spirit and
expanding people's capacity to achieve stretch goals and bring about real change. This
does not start with simple coaching techniques like setting goals, motivating people and
giving feedback. It starts with considering and altering the underlying context in which
these occur.
The underlying context is all of the conclusions, beliefs
and assumptions people in the organization have reached in order to succeed. This context
is shaped by the shared interpretations people make about their business environment. And
it also includes the management culture that is inherited or self-imposed. This basic
cultural context must be considered in creating a framework for effective coaching
(Hargrove, 1995).
In today's rapidly changing business environment, winning
organizations need a new kind of management culture, one that is based on creating new
knowledge. This requires constant learning. A crucial catalyst in this new management
culture is the transformational coach. His or her job is to provide the company's vision
or direction while leaving plenty of room for people to pursue their passions, personal
interests and projects.
Xerox's Paul Allaire says, "The key to the new
productivity is people - helping them do what they can do, what they want to do, what they
inherently know is the right thing to do."
In its simplest terms, masterful coaching involves
expanding people's capacity to take effective action. It involves challenging underlying
beliefs and assumptions that are responsible for one's actions and behaviors. At its
deepest level, masterful coaching examines not only what one does, and why one does what
one does, but also who one is. What are the principles upon which one forms identity?
Many coaches begin the coaching process with assessments.
Some coaching involves extensive feedback from 360 degree surveys in which the person
being coached receives input from peers, subordinates and superiors.
Initially there may be extensive work examining and
formulating one's personal values, interests and creating a personal mission statement.
This is similar to a business strategy and mission statement for the
organization. There may be coaching around aligning the
organizational purpose and objectives with those of the organization.
The astute coach will help the person examine gaps or
openings between what they believe they do and what they actually do. This is fertile
ground for personal growth and development, but is also the area where people can become
defensive and resistant. It takes a talented coach to help someone out of these stuck
areas, or blind spots - where they may not see with clarity.
If the agenda for the coaching conversation is set by the
client, how then to address blind spots? This is where the effective coach uses
finely-tuned listening and observing skills. Some talented coaches have spoken of the
magic of asking the right question at just the right time.
What are the goals and outcomes of effective executive
coaching? Traditionally, the goals have been fairly specific and have focused on
preventing executive derailment (Ludeman, 1995; Machan, 1988; McCauley & Douglas,
1998; Sperry, 1993; Waldroop & Butler, 1996). The coaching process may address a
specific behavior that is causing managerial conflict (Strickland, 1997), improve specific
managerial competencies or solve specific problems (Douglas & McCauley, 1997; Hall,
Otazo & Hollenbeck, 1999), or help executives address behaviors or issues that are
impeding job effectiveness (Koonce, 1994).
Increasingly coaching seeks to enhance the performance of
high-potential executives (Judge & Cowll, 1997). The goals of executive coaching are
shifting and broadening as more and more executives seek out coaching for a variety of
different reasons.
Here are some other important results cited in research on
the outcomes of executive coaching:
- Better management by enhancing an executive's ability to
navigate sensitive political issues;
- Strengthening strategic decision making;
- Opening a window onto organizational and self explorations
(Hall, Otazo & Hollenbeck, 1999; Pilette & Wingard, 1997).
Research by the Center for Creative Leadership has found
that the primary causes of derailment in executives involve deficits in emotional
competence. These are listed as:
- Difficulty handling change;
- Not being able to work well in a team;
- Poor interpersonal relations.
A study of 130 executives found that how well people
handled their own emotions determined how much people around them preferred to deal with
them (Clarke, 1997).
It is becoming obvious that coaching is not only about
behavioral changes leading to improved performance on the job. The masterful coaching
experience goes deeper than behavior changes into real and lasting changes through mind
shift. Many call this Transformational or Masterful coaching.
One of the newer fields of study is developmental coaching.
This examines the client's level of development along the 15 or so one journeys throughout
the life span. Based on the work of developmental psychologists (Wilbur, 2000), it
combines with the work of organizational action science and is called Developmental or
Integral Coaching (Laske, 2000).
Coaching is effective when it leads to behavioral change,
particularly when it affects the bottom line. However, for change to be lasting and
meaningful, the coach must reach for deeper levels of commitment and explore core issues
with the client.
David Whyte puts it eloquently: "It is incumbent
on each of us, to start telling our story in such a way that you can grant magnificence
back to your work and back to what you do. If you can't grant magnificence to your work,
you grant magnificence to yourself and have the courage to step out of it into something
that is really commensurate to your gifts and is a place where you can really feel like
you come alive again at the frontier of your own destiny" (1999).
How to Get the Most Out of Coaching
1. Talk about what matters most.
Talk about your important needs. Be selfish about your coaching time - talk about what
really matters rather than what you "should" be addressing.
2. Focus on how you feel and want to
feel, not just on what you want to produce. Don't avoid talking about your
feelings, no matter what your opinions of them are. Feelings drive behaviors. To change
your behaviors, change how you feel. Be willing to explore and discuss your feelings with
your coach. Awareness is the first step toward change.
3. Get more space, not more time,
into your life. Coaching needs room in order to work. If you're too busy, you'll
use coaching to push yourself harder, instead of using coaching to become more effective.
Simplification gets you space. You need space in order to learn and to be able to evolve
beyond where you are today.
4. Become incredibly selfish in order
to reduce energy drains. Coaching will help you to identify and reduce things that
drain and strain you such as recurring problems, difficult relationships and pressured
environments. It's up to you to ask your coach for help in reducing energy drains.
5. Be open to see things differently.
You will get more out of coaching if you are willing to examine your assumptions, ways of
thinking, expectations, beliefs, and reactions. As David Whyte has said, "Nobody has
to change, but everybody has to have the conversation."
6. Sensitize yourself to see and
experience things earlier than before. Coaching conversations will lead you to
increased awareness. The more you sensitize yourself to your feelings and thoughts, the
faster you can respond to events and opportunities. This may mean eliminating alcohol,
stress, caffeine and an adrenaline-based energy system for living.
7. Design and strengthen your
business and personal environments. The value of coaching can be extended if you
use part of your coaching time to design the perfect environment in which to live and
work. If your surroundings are unpleasant, unhealthy, or disorganized, they can affect
your success. Clean up, organize, beautify.
8. Be clear about your goals before
ending the coaching session. Coaching is just conversation unless it leads to
action. Make sure you know what your goals are, both immediate, near future and long term.
9. Spend part of your coaching time
to improve your ability to give feedback. Successful leaders know how to give
positive feedback to their key people. They do it frequently and with authenticity. They
never hesitate when feedback is less than positive. You should give your coach feedback,
especially at the end of each session. Say what worked, what didn't, and what you'd like
next.
10. Be willing to evolve yourself,
not just increase your performance. Coaching is a developmental process and an
evolutionary one. You'll learn how to accomplish more with less effort. But you will also
think differently, adopt a new personal vision of yourself, change outdated beliefs and
assumptions and expand your view of yourself and your place in the world. Work with your
coach to become more magnificent in your work and in your life.
Executive Coaching Bibliography
Altier, W. J. The executive coach. Executive Excellence,
6(10), 11-12, 1989.
Blanchard, K. and D. Shula, Everyone's a Coach; Zondervan
Publishing House, 1996.
Buckingham, Marcus, & Curt Coffman. First, Break All
the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently; Simon & Schuster, 1999.
Diedrich, R. C. An iterative approach to executive
coaching. Consulting Psychology: Practice and Research, 48(2), 61-66, 1996.
Douglas, C.A. and C. D. McCauley. A survey on the use of
formal developmental relationships in organizations. Issues and Observations, 17 (1- 2),
6-9, 1997.
Hall, D.T., K. L. Otazoy, and G. P. Hollenbeck, Behind the
closed doors:what really happens in executive coaching. Organizational Dynamics, 27 (3),
38-53, 1999.
Hargrove, Robert. Masterful Coaching; Jossey-Bass/
Pfeiffer, 1995.
Jay, M. Coach2 the Bottom Line: An Executive Guide to
Coaching Performance, Change and Transformation in Organizations. Trafford Publishing,
1999.
Judge, W. Q., and J. Cowll. The brave new world of
executive coaching. Business Horizons, 40 (4), 71-77, 1997.
Kilburg, R. R. Toward a conceptual understanding and
definition of executive coaching. Consulting Psychology: Practice and Research, 48(2),
134-144, 1996.
Kilburg, R. Executive coaching [special issue]. Consulting
Psychology: Practice and Research, 47, 1996.
Koonce, R. One on one. Training and Development, 48 (2),
34-40, 1994.
Lary, B. K. Executive counsel. Human Resource Executive,
11(1). 46-49, 1997.
Laske, O. An integrative model of developmental coaching.
Consulting Psychology: Practice and Research, 51(3), 139-159, 2000.
Luderman, K. To fill the feedback void. Training and
Development, 49 (8), 38-41, 1995.
Machan, D. Sigmund Freud meets Henry Ford. Forbes, 14 (13),
120-122, 1988.
McCauley, C. D., and C. A. Douglas. Developmental
relationships. The Center for Creative Leadership, 160-193, 1998.
McCauley, C. D., and M. W. Hughes-James. An evaluation of
the outcomes of a leadership development program. The Center for Creative Leadership,
1994.
Olivero, G., K. Bane, & R. Kopeirnan. Public Personnel
Management, 1997.
Peterson, D. B. Executive coaching at work: The art of
one-on-one change. Consulting Psychology: Practice and Research, 48(2), 78-86, 1996.
Pilette, P. C., and E. Wingard. Strengthening the
executive's leadership skills through coaching. In J. E. Lowery (Ed.), Culture Shift: a
Leader's Guide to Managing Change in Health Care. American Hospital Association, 187-205,
1997.
Sperry, L. Working with executives: Consulting, counseling
and coaching. Individual Psychology 49(2), 257-266, June, 1993.
Strickland, K. Executive coaching: helping valued
executives fulfill their potential. In A. J. Pickman (Ed.) Special Challenges in Career
Management: Counselor Perspectives. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 203-212, 1997.
Waldroop, J., & T. Butler. The executive as coach.
Harvard Business Review, 74(6), 111-117, Nov.-Dec. 1996.
Whyte, D. The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of
the Soul in Corporate America. Currency/Doubleday, 1996.
Wilbur, Ken. Integral Psychology; Shambhala, 2000.
Witherspoon, R., & R. P. White. Executive coaching: A
continuum of roles. Consulting Psychology: Practice and Research, 48(2), 124-133, 1996.
Young, D. P., and N. M. Dixon. Helping Leaders Take
Effective Action: A Program Evaluation. The Center for Creative Leadership, 1996.
Key Coaching Principles
1. Synergy causes better results, much more easily. Proper
coach/client matching is essential for synergy to occur.
2. When people are fully heard, they move forward
immediately. Not being heard slows down personal development and human evolution.
3. Any situation can be optimized, turned around or
improved. And if it cannot, get out of it responsibly.
4. Fewer problems occur when one has a strong personal
foundation. Rising above the muck of life is step one in coaching.
5. Sometimes the client has the answer, sometimes the coach
does. It doesn't really matter where it comes from.
6. One can have a perfect life. It's not a fantasy or
pipedream. It really is do-able, and in this lifetime.
7. Humans operate at one percent or less of our potential.
Coaching increases this figure.
8. Success is a basic human right. Success has nothing to
do with deservingness, privilege or background.
9. When the client properly defines success, coaching
becomes easy. And clients know better how to use their coach.
10. Most people don't really know what they truly want. A
coach can help clients discover what that is. It's usually simple.
11. What one puts up with costs one dearly. Tolerations
waste one's spirit, one's heart, one's mind, and one's pocketbook.
12. We are all Picassos-In-Training. The world is waiting
for people to discover, express and share their creativity.
- Thomas Leonard
www.coachville.com
