What is Executive Coaching?
What is Executive Coaching?
According to a 1999 International Coach Federation survey on Coaching in Corporate America, “there is no consensus of what coaching is, but there is a strong interest in learning more about it.”
While I’ve personally come to understand what coaching is over the past two years that I’ve done the Insight on Coaching show, it’s still an intangible topic for many people to get their arms around. Yet more and more frequently, from top executives to celebrities, we’re hearing people mention and thank their coaches.
Does that mean all business leaders and executives should have a coach?
In the Business Finance column of the June 27th 2005 issue of New York Magazine, the author says – yes. "With CEO tenure at an all time low and CEO dismissals at an all time high, retaining the services of a top CEO coach is no longer an option for chief executives who desire to increase their performance and longevity.”
So more CEOs and executives are using them – but what is executive coaching?
These coaches can be external experts or internal employees within the company hired to support the company’s executives in this very capacity.
In initial sessions, executive coaches partner with their clients to help identify capabilities or skills where he/she would like to grow. From there, an action plan is created that articulates the executive’s goals against these skills. Subsequent conversations focus on challenges and improvements against those goals, while providing flexibility for goals to change and evolve over time.
Executive coaching can also include principles from sports coaching such as teamwork, personal excellence, and “going for the goal.” But unlike sports coaching, executive coaching is not about competition or based on win/lose. It’s about growth, and most importantly it’s about self-realization.
What type of skills are executive leaders asking for help with?
From overall leadership to organizational agility to dealing with shareholders, the sky is truly the limit. However in order for executive coaching to be effective, it’s important the client choose those skills that are impactful or meaningful to his/her success personally.
What I hear from both Insight on Coaching guests and from leaders themselves is the types of skills required for success at the executive level continue to change – and fuel an even greater need for executive coaches
Dayton Ogden and Tom Neff state in the January/February 2007 issue of Chief Executive magazine that “the fast-changing business climate demands a whole new CEO skill set.” Their analysis is based on the Spencer Stuart survey which found that 95% of recruiting consultants at the company agree that leaders appointed to the CEO post require an entirely different approach, skill set, and set of experiences than their brethren who took the helm a decade earlier.
So is an executive coach’s ability to inspire self realization and growth against a constantly changing skillset in high demand?
You bet it is.
According to the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, “the demand for executive coaching has skyrocketed in the past five years. Today's executive coach is intended to help leaders and potential leaders with the challenging road of organizational growth in today's dynamic and unstable work environment.”
How are companies using executive coaches? Well they’re using them to:
- Attract, develop and retain executive talent.
- Enhance personal transformation and growth within leaders.
- Develop a succession planning process that ensures a constant pool of qualified candidates to fill experienced roles at the executive level.
- Provide leaders with a means to hold themselves accountable to developmental goals discussed between them and their coach.
- Groom executives to continue to take on increasing responsibilities.
Want to hear more?
Tune into the podcast version of the Insight on Coaching show dedicated to executive coaching to listen to our guests discuss what executive coaching is, why it’s important, and why it’s valuable.
Featured guests on our Executive Coaching show include:
- Lyne Desormeaux, Clinical Psychologist and certified Co-Active Coach
- Alyssa Freas, Founder and CEO of Executive Coaching Network, Inc
- Anna Marie Valerio PhD, President of Executive Leadership Strategies, LLC
Your Insight on Coaching Host,
Tom Floyd
CEO
IEC: Insight Educational Consulting
Specializing in Change Management, Workforce Performance, and Employee Development
Executive Coaching
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