Just as top-performing athletes excel through the efforts of superior coaching, senior executives and corporations can excel with the guidance provided by an experienced executive coach. As recently as 10 years ago, the concept of “executive coaching” was not accepted as a profession, because mentoring within a corporation was much more prevalent.
A recent survey of more than 300 companies revealed six out of 10 organizations currently offer coaching to their executives. Another 20 percent indicated that they plan to offer coaching within the next year.
In today’s fast-paced economy, progressive corporations have to move quickly and decisively to address the challenges of rapid change or growth. There is little time or no time for internal mentors to work with individual executives.
Because corporations no longer “manage executive careers,” these executives must now rely upon their own initiative to reach their top performance. This is complicated by the fact executives are changing employers on the average of every 2.9 years.
An executive coach can make a substantial difference in guiding an executive to make the right decisions. In fact, many senior executives have discovered that working with an executive coach gives them an edge.
For example, a coach can help the chief executive to improve their interaction with other key executives, resulting in a higher level of performance and communication within executive teams in the organization.
– Tackling Real Life Situations
To operate in today’s complex business world, organizations should consult with an executive coaching firm that possesses a diversity of resources and varied skill-sets within different industries. The cadre of coaches should be consummate business professionals who have done impressive work as operating executives.
Why a coach and not a seminar? It’s been demonstrated that individuals learn in an organization in the following ways , 10 percent through seminars; 30 percent through mentoring; and 60 percent on-the-job. Executive coaches influence what executives learn on-the-job and include mentoring to significantly expand and accelerate learning and its benefits.
The fact is a CEO can’t possibly think of everything. An executive coach can help the executive by providing a confidential sounding board to help clarify an executive’s vision and thoughts.
For example, a CEO might have three critical items on their agenda for the next three months that they have to complete. An executive coach can help them clarify their strategy for dealing with those issues as well as pose additional questions , what are the repercussions of your thinking? Is there a better way? The coach has no agenda, his or her only concern is to assist the CEO with a particular issue or problem.
– Dealing With Business Issues
Many executives have the false impression that an executive coach is a social worker-type, someone who will tell them how to dress right, eat properly, feel good and be a happier chief executive. Rather, a senior-level executive coach is a business professional whose job is to help the CEO increase their level of performance.
An executive coach should be qualified and prepared to deal with the hard issues in a CEO’s life and deal with them in a very business-like way. It’s not to say that there is not the human side to a coach’s consulting efforts, but usually executive coaches deal with fully functioning, cognitive, successful executives who are already successful in their careers.
A common problem is that CEOs have difficulty confiding in board members or executives within their management team. A safe haven for objective input is very valuable to a CEO.
The board of directors and the management team are looking to the chief executive for leadership. If the CEO surfaces an issue that is not well thought out, the board of directors or management team is likely to conclude that the CEO is indecisive and he or she runs the risk of losing credibility.
Conversely, an external executive coach has no political hay to make in a corporation. They have no pre-conceived agenda based on a bias toward the organization. A CEO should use his/her board members and direct reports for input. But he or she must have a strategy before discussing certain sensitive issues and ideas. An executive coach can provide the sounding board for such an idea, before it’s surfaced to others.
– Enhanced Growth And Performance
Many times a senior executive does not have the time to think about their growth and development. A coach’s goal is get them to the next level of thinking about their career and pick the most productive avenues for growth. This can include becoming a member of another company’s board of directors, an introduction to other influential executives, and placement in significant industry organizations to increase exposure.
The structural advantage of working with a coach also enables a CEO to allocate time to think about themselves, their career and their performance. Issues affecting their performance and their company’s bottom line become clearer during such reflective and introspective opportunities.
When the CEO makes an appointment with a coach, he or she knows that they are going to have time allocated to these important issues. They are focused on the conversation with the coach, and the coach is going to be focused on the CEO.
The best way to find a coach is to meet with prospective coaches and determine who you have the best rapport with. A coach is not going to help the CEO become more successful if the chief executive is not comfortable with that person. Using a coach is the beginning of a new relationship, and a successful relationship takes some time to develop.
If a CEO needs a coach to deal with one contained issue, then they might use the coach for a relatively short period of time. However, there are much more protracted issues that can take time to develop the result that the CEO wants. In that case, they might need a coach for several months or longer.
A good executive coach should help the CEO or senior management to push their envelope , to think outside of their normal pattern and to take risks. The result is that the CEO is more confident about themselves and should be able to accomplish things that they have never done before.
Cuplin and Glasberg are co-founders of Navica Partners LLC.
