Executive Coaching
Health & Performance Solutions University
Presented by Michelle Clos, LPC, CEAP, ACC
October 9, 2008
Executive Coaching
Catalyst for Action and Change
“There is no greater way for a leader to enhance his or her effectiveness and development than
through coaching. Anyone can take classes and obtain a good degree of knowledge, but a coach
helps the person apply that knowledge to his or her unique situation.”
Robert Hicks, PhD, Director of executive and professional coaching UT Dallas School of
Management. Source: Smart Business Dallas, January 2007.
Objectives
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Define Executive Coaching
Review Four Key Components of Executive
Coaching
Identify Skills Set of a Successful Executive Coach
Differentiate Between Coaching, Counseling,
Consulting and Mentoring
Give Examples of Coaching Engagements
Review How to Maximize Returns for Executive
Coaching
List Resources for Additional Information
Definition:
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Formal engagement - coach works with an organizational leader
in a series of dynamic, confidential sessions designed to establish
and achieve clear goals that will result in improved business
effectiveness, both for the individual and the organization
Organization, an executive, and the executive coach work in
partnership to achieve maximum impact
Primary focus is on organizational performance or development,
but may also have a personal component as well
Results produced from the relationship are observable and
measurable, and are in line with the performance requirements
the organization has for the person being coached
Experiential and individualized leader development process that
builds a leader’s capability to achieve short-and longer-term
organizational goals
Be Cautious When Selecting an
Executive Coach
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Many individuals calling themselves coaches
International Coach Federation - resource for locating
credentialed executive coach
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Leading global organization dedicated to advancing coaching
profession by setting high standards, providing independent
certification, and building worldwide network of credentialed
coaches
Developed and promotes an industry wide Code of
Professional Standards and Ethics that all members pledge to
uphold
Developed first universally accepted accreditation process
which preserves the integrity of coaching through
standardized credentials
Key Components of Executive Coaching
~ Effective Executive Coach~
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Needs to be able to think in business terms and
understand how organizations work
Understand the behavioral change process, adult
learning, change management and leadership
development
Have technical skills, such as executive development,
organizational development, team building
Be familiar with the options and techniques of
several coaching models, tools, and approaches and
apply them according to the needs of the client and
organization
Key Components of Executive Coaching
~ Effective Executive Coach~
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Well-grounded with solid experience dealing with
senior-level people and understanding their lifestyles
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Possess a strong level of confidence for dealing with successful people
who are very confident
Be politically savvy
Maintains confidentiality
Fosters independence and analytical thinking
Do not need to be expert in the client’s business
But need to know enough to make a contribution to
the conversation
Key Components of Executive Coaching
~ Executive Buy In~
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Life long learners who value personal and
professional development
Possess self awareness regarding their strengths and
weaknesses and are interested in learning about them
Have a strong self identity and are not threatened by
feedback
View coaching as an investment rather than an
expense
Key Components of Executive Coaching
~ Organizational Buy In~
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What is the organization trying to accomplish?
Why should this executive receive coaching?
What two or three goals should be set for executive improvement?
What does the individual want?
How is this organization using coaching to improve their success?
Is the coach a trusted advisor?
How much time will be committed to the process?
What measurements will confirm executive improvement?
Is the organization open to feedback concerning other factors that might
be contributing to the executive’s dysfunction?
What information will be shared with the coach?
Will the organization honor the confidentiality of the process? VERY
IMPORTANT!
Key Components of Executive Coaching
~ Comprehensive Coaching Plan~
Written Coaching Agreement
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Assure anonymity for executive and other contributors of information
Have an escape clause
Should specify what information will and will not be released, to
whom, and how
Spells out initial goals, a timeline, fees, roles and responsibilities for
coach and client
Well defined and put in measurable terms defined by the client and/or
organization
List what measurements will be used to assess the executive’s
improvement
Determine under what circumstances the contract would be amended
Different than Consulting
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Do not give advice on specific technical aspects of a
business
Not designed to deal with poor performers
Management consultants fix the problem, often
offering a defined solution to the problem.
Essential in coaching that the client makes the decision
and designs the plan regarding the best way to move
forward
Different than Counseling
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Skill overlap between counseling and coaching: active
listening, ability to build trusting relationships, expert
communication skills
Coaching focuses on the present and future
Counseling focuses on past and the present
Coaching is action oriented with the client making the decision
regarding how to best move forward
Counseling is often assessment and diagnostically driven,
counselor designs a treatment plan to address the client’s needs
Most Important: professional coaching is aimed at skills
development, performance enhancement and personal
development with non-clinical populations
Different than Mentoring
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Communication relationship between a senior
organizational member (the mentor) and a more junior
organizational member (the protégé or mentee)
Mentoring offers advising, coaching and counseling to
the mentee to enhance career development and success
for the protégé
Executive coaching is a relationship between equals
Coaches do not give advice
Executive Coaching Engagements
~Structure~
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Structure of the Coaching Session
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Identify the agenda and what outcomes the coachee is seeking
Explore possibilities, resources, and potential action plans
Client identifies action steps
Review potential barriers and remove them
End session with a recap of action plan: what will be done, by when, and
by whom…set next meeting time
Structure of Coaching Engagement
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Should be designed to meet the issues, the schedule and the cultural needs
of the client.
Face to face at worksite or off worksite (49%)
Via telephone (40%)
Email (10%)
Videoconference (1%)
Executive Coaching Engagements
~Leadership Development Tool~
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78% of the 472 top business and human capital leaders surveyed for the
study said they viewed coaching as a credible, effective way to improve a
company’s performance
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ROI ranged from 100 – 500 %. Factors were executive output, quality
improvements, cost savings, and senior leader turnover.
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Other benefits: developing ‘high potential’ mid-level managers for
succession planning, and raising capable executives to more optimal levels.
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Qualitative benefits: high achievement of development objectives, positive
assessment from the coach and the coached individual’s ability to take on
new tasks
Executive Coaching Engagements
~Assist with Cultural Transition~
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Coaches who are working in cross-cultural environments must
be grounded in the different types of communication patterns
in order to provide effective coaching.
Requires a thorough understanding of what culture is and
how it impacts the employees
Relation to hierarchy, protocols of formality and
communication patterns
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Important to understand the importance of Ethnorelative approach –
looking at cultural differences as inevitable and acknowledging that one’s
worldview is not that of others and that rather than being threatened by
differences, one is curious and eager to learn about them.
Differences treated with respect
Coach there to support coaches learning and understanding of other
values, encouraging flexibility, appreciation for differences with respect to
how they impact the communication in the workplace.
Executive Coaching Engagements
~Organizational Development~
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Creating a coaching culture
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Human Resource and Organizational leaders must both be
committed to achieving
Managers as coaches
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An additional management tool not a replacement of
manager’s current management style
Requires managers to have powerful questions, NOT all the
answers
Requires managers to be interested in the employee, not to
have a PhD in psychology
Maximizing Returns on Professional
Executive Coaching
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Identify Best Fit Coaches
Focus Coaching on Business Needs
Optimize Executive Coach Matching
Leveraging Senior Management Participation
Managing Coaches to Performance Standards
Maximizing Returns on Professional Executive Coaching
I. Identifying “Best Fit” Coaches
1. Has your organization developed a set of standardized criteria for
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screening and selecting professional coaches?
Does your organization incorporate business as well as individual
considerations in the recruitment of professional coaches?
Does your organization recruit professional coaches with a particular view
to bringing to the organization the full complement of skills and
experiences that executives typically require?
Does your organization rigorously interview each professional coach,
either on an individual basis or in a group, before approving the coach to
work with executives in the organization?
Does your organization contract with each professional coach at the
corporate level around service-level expectations and the terms and
conditions of employment?
Corporate Leadership Council May 2003 Reprinted with permission
Maximizing Returns on Professional Executive Coaching
II. Focusing Coaching on Business Needs
6. Does your organization prioritize professional coaching for key
contributors, such as senior executives leading a critical business initiative?
7. Does your organization consider an executive’s likely ability to execute or
over-execute against business goals when allocating professional coaching
resources as development opportunities?
8. Does your organization mandate a clear linkage between business goals
and the developmental goals pursued through a professional coaching
engagement?
Corporate Leadership Council May 2003 Reprinted with permission
Maximizing Returns on Professional Executive Coaching
III. Optimizing Executive–Coach Matching
9. Has your organization identified clear criteria and decision rules for
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matching professional coaches to executives?
Does your organization consider experience, expertise, and relationship
factors when matching professional coaches to executives?
Does your organization monitor the effectiveness of a executive–coach
match throughout the coaching engagement and over time?
Does your organization offer guidance for executives on appropriate
courses of action if the coaching engagement derails owing to
interpersonal dynamics?
Will your organization be aware and able to intervene proactively if
coaching engagements derail owing to interpersonal dynamics?
Corporate Leadership Council May 2003 Reprinted with permission
Maximizing Returns on Professional Executive Coaching
IV. Leveraging Senior Manager Participation
14. Does your organization position the direct manager or the business as the
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ultimate customer of a coaching engagement?
Does your organization mandate that a coached executive’s manager
approves of professional coaching as an appropriate development
interaction before coaching is initiated?
Does your organization encourage manager involvement in the creation of
a “coaching action plan”?
Does your organization encourage regular, three-way progress checks
between the executive, the coach, and the direct manager?
Does your organization provide additional support to coached executives,
e.g., through mentors or other senior staff, to ensure that on-the-job
development needs identified through the coaching engagement can be
properly addressed?
Corporate Leadership Council May 2003 Reprinted with permission
Maximizing Returns on Professional Executive Coaching
V. Managing Coaches to Performance Standards
19. Has your organization developed an overarching performance standard to
which each professional coach must adhere, for example, a timeline of
deliverables and outputs across the engagement?
20. Does your organization manage the professional coaches that it employs as
a coherent group, e.g., by appointing a manager for the group and bringing
the group together for regular meetings?
21. Does your organization leverage the collective knowledge of the
professional coaches who work with your senior executives to better assess
organization-wide development needs and other trends?
Corporate Leadership Council May 2003 Reprinted with permission
Maximizing Returns on
Professional Executive Coaching
SCORING SYSTEM
Number of
“Yes” Responses
Likelihood of Maximum Returns on
Professional Executive Coaching
19 to 21
Excellent
16 to 18
Good
12 to 15
Fair: significant improvement needed
0 to 11
Low: immediate attention, possibly
reengineering of strategy required
Resources
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Auerbach, Jeffrey E., Ph.D. (Eds) with Everett, Caty; Heimbuch, Jamie; and Herrera, Jamie.
Executive Coaching Summit VII,Cutting Edge Practices for a Dramatically Changing Marketplace,
Nov. 2005
Bungay-Stanier, Michael, OD Practioner, Journal of the Organization Development Network, Volume 40,
No.3 Summer 2008.
Beets, Lisa Murton. (Jan. 2007). Executive Coaching: How to move toward your goals more effectively.
Smart Business Dallas.
Corporate Leadership Council: Maximizing Returns on Professional Executive Coaching: Council
Essay, May 2003
The Executive Coaching Forum (Third Edition, 2004). The Executive Coaching Handbook.
www.theexecutivecoachingforum.cum
International Coach Federation http://coachfederation.org
Laske, Otto, PsyD, PhD. Can Evidence Based Coaching Increase ROI?, International Journal of Evidence
Based Coaching and Mentoring Vol. 2, No. 2, Autumn 2004
Lockwood, Nancy R., SPHR, GPHR. SHRM Executive Coaching – Cross-Cultural Perspective
Miller, Patricia A., Society for Human Resource Management Online Organizational and Employee
Development Focus Area, August, 2008. Q & A: Organizational and Employee Development.
National Post, Wednesday, April 4, 2007, ‘The Second-Fastest Growing Profession” Ray Williams
Noe (1988, p. 458) as cited in S. Aryee et al. "The Motivation to Mentor…" Group & Organization Management
(September 1996): 261.
SHRM Online’s Organizational and Employee Development Focus Area, August 2008
2008 Sherpa Coaching, Cincinnati, OH USA
Smith, Dr. Lee and Sandstrom, Dr. Jeannine. White Paper, Executive Coaching Summit 1
Wolfinger, Peter, Organizational and Employee Development, SHRM, September 2008.