What is Executive Coaching?
Executive
coaching is a developing field. As such, its definition is still the subject of
discussion and debate among practitioners, researchers, and consumers.
Executive coaching involves an executive, his coach, and his organizational
context (as represented by the interests of his organization and supervisor,
including the fact that the organization typically pays for coaching services).
All are key stakeholders in the process. This fact by itself would appear to differentiate
executive coaching from other interventions, such as career counseling and life
coaching. While both career counseling and life coaching can lend concepts and
practice techniques that an executive coach might use, they focus solely on the
individual client and his needs and goals. Executive coaching, in our view,
focuses on the needs and goals of both the executive and the sponsoring
organization. In that spirit, we offer the following definition of executive coaching.
“Executive
coaching is an experiential and individualized leader development process that
builds a leader’s capability to achieve short- and long-term organizational
goals. It is conducted through one- on-one and/or group interactions, driven by
data from multiple perspectives, and based on mutual trust and respect. The
organization, an executive, and the executive coach work in partnership to
achieve maximum impact.”
What Is
Different About Executive Coaching?
As coaching
has grown in popularity over the past few years, it is only natural that some
authors have tried to differentiate among types of coaching. Some of these
categories define coaching type by its goals or ends. Career coaching, for
instance, is defined as coaching designed to help individuals make enlightened
career choices. Other attempts at categorization make distinctions based on the
means used in a particular kind of coaching. As an example, presentation and
communication skills coaching employs video feedback.
The
practice of executive coaching may involve many of the types of coaching
described below. Thus, an executive coaching engagement may over time touch on
the executive's career or personal life issues involving work/life balance, and
use video feedback to work on some particular behavioral or communication
problem. Two factors always distinguish executive coaching from these other
types, however:
"It
always involves a partnership among executive, coach, and organization.
"The
individual goals of an executive coaching engagement must always link back and
be subordinated to strategic organizational objectives.
A
discussion of some common coaching types follows.
Personal/Life
Coaching
The
personal/life coach helps individuals gain awareness of and clarify their
personal goals and priorities, better understand their thoughts, feelings, and
options, and take appropriate actions to change their lives, accomplish their
goals, and feel more fulfilled.
Career
Coaching
The career
coach helps individuals identify what they want and need from their career,
then make decisions and take the needed actions to accomplish their career
objectives in balance with the other parts of their lives.
Group
Coaching
Group
coaches work with individuals in groups. The focus can range from leadership
development to career development, stress management to team building. Group
coaching combines the benefits of individual coaching with the resources of
groups. Individuals learn from each other and the interactions that take place
within the group setting.
Performance
Coaching
Performance
coaches help employees at all levels better understand the requirements of
their jobs, the competencies needed to fulfill those requirements, any gaps in
their current performance, and opportunities to improve performance. Coaches
then work with the employees, their bosses, and others in their workplace to
help the employees fill performance gaps and develop plans for further
professional development.
Newly
Assigned Leader Coaching
Coaches of individuals
assigned or hired into new leadership roles help these leaders to “onboard”.
The goal of the coaching is to clarify with the leader’s key constituents the
most important responsibilities of her new role, her deliverables in the first
few months of the new assignment, and ways to integrate the team she will lead
with the organization. The major focus of this type of coaching is on helping
the new leader to assimilate and achieve her business objectives.
Relationship
Coaching
The
relationship coach helps two or more people to form, change, or improve their
interactions. The context can be work, personal, or other settings.
High-Potential
or Developmental Coaching
The coach
works with organizations to develop the potential of individuals who have been
identified as key to the organization’s future or are part of the
organization’s succession plan. The focus of the coaching may include
assessment, competency development, or assistance planning and implementing
strategic projects.
Coaching to
Provide Feedback Debriefing and Development Planning
Organizations
that use assessment or 360 feedback processes often utilize coaches to help
employees interpret the results of their assessments and feedback. In addition,
coaches work with individuals to make career decisions and establish
professional development plans based on feedback, assessment results, and other
relevant data.
Targeted
Behavioral Coaching
Coaches who
provide targeted behavioral coaching help individuals to change specific
behaviors or habits or learn new, more effective ways to work and interact with
others. This type of coaching often helps individuals who are otherwise very
successful in their current jobs or are taking on new responsibilities that
require a change in specific behaviors.
Legacy
Coaching
The legacy
coach helps leaders who are retiring from a key role to decide on the legacy
they would like to leave behind. The coach also provides counsel on
transitioning out of the leadership role.
Succession
Coaching
The
succession coach helps assess potential candidates for senior management
positions and prepares them for promotion to more senior roles. This type of
coaching may be used in any organization that is experiencing growth or
turnover in its leadership ranks. It is especially helpful in family businesses
to maintain the viability of the firm. Since assessment is often part of this
intervention, clear expectations and groundrules for confidentiality are
essential. It may be necessary in some companies to use separate consultants
for assessment and coaching.
Presentation/Communication
Skills Coaching
This type
of coaching helps individuals gain self-awareness about how they are perceived
by others and why they are perceived in that way. Clients learn new ways to
interact with others. The use of videorecording with feedback allows clients to
see themselves as others do. The coach helps clients change the way they
communicate and influence others by changing their words, how they say those
words, and the body language they use to convey their intended messages.
Team
Coaching
One or more
team coaches work with the leader and members of a team to establish their team
mission, vision, strategy, and rules of engagement with one another. The team
leader and members may be coached individually to facilitate team meetings and
other interactions, build the effectiveness of the group as a high-performance
team, and achieve team goals.
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