What is an Executive Business Coach?
These are external support resources that typically work with CEOs and/or their direct reports, as individuals and as a team. Executive Business Coaches are often viewed like consultants, but they are not paid to personally implement. That is their client's role. They are engaged to build the leader's self-awareness and help them acquire new skill and knowledge, by applying their business and leadership experience, to ask clarifying and sometimes provocative questions about vision, mission, goals and strategy.
These days there are an increasing number of people calling themselves executive coaches. Beware. Those who provide everything from psychotherapy, directive advice (like a basketball coach), career advice, fixers of relationships, or even life coaching may present themselves as Executive Coaches. While all these types of coaches can indeed create value for their clients, most often they are not engaged in the business context by CEO's. Know what you need and what you are buying.
It is the Executive Business Coach who executives will engage in the work setting to help them with their own professional development and best assure leadership alignment and strategic success. So what can these types of support offer you?
Self-awareness - the foundation for your development. Do you know your preferences for thinking, decision-making and leading under normal times vs. under stress? If not, you should. Even if you do it may be insufficient. Why? Because hierarchy can be intimidating. That’s why also knowing how others see and experience you goes a long way in becoming an effective leader. This is extremely hard to do on your own because we can tend to see the world through our own lens, especially under stress. And self-awareness isn’t a “once and done”. It’s constantly evolving and changing based on your business strategy and performance. So, while you can certainly develop the ability to be very “in tune” with your thoughts and emotions, it’s vital that you work with someone who can help you understand how your words, thoughts and behavior impact everyone around you. It’s the key to becoming an effective leader. It is also a wonderful attribute to model for others.
Share specific observations of your progress, as well as point our when things don’t go so well, always helping you to see alternatives. Sometimes we are too hard on ourselves and don’t see progress or small wins. Other times, we miss the mark, and/or revert to old habits or bad leadership behavior under stress. Why? Because we are human. While your Board Chair, CEO or colleague might have suggested what didn’t go well, when was the last time that person actually served as a coach? Maybe they did, but most likely only in generalities or maybe they just told you what to do. That’s not coaching. An Executive Business Coach engages in deep discussion of the situation, the leadership behavior you demonstrated and its impact on others. This opens you up to see options, many of which you were already aware but hadn’t seen clearly. She/he rarely tells you what to do differently, yet applies what they know about you - using listening and questioning skills - to help you discover how to handle similar situations more effectively.
Serve as a confidential sounding board regarding business and organizational uncertainties, and ask thought-provoking questions that allow you to explore options. Executive roles, especially CEO, can be lonely. Even the most self-aware and vulnerable leader appreciates a dialogue with an Executive Business Coach. A coach is someone who understands the business context in which you are operating and asks the hard questions at the right time, balancing respect with challenge. She/he is also someone who understands your issues and how they impact not only you, but also others. As a result, you feel support and trust while examining possibilities. You also are more likely to reserve a time to work on you, not just your business
Support you in developing and maintaining culture of accountability. As an executive, you have a lot on your plate. You can’t fully delegate culture development to your staff. While many will contribute, your voice needs to be heard and all need to understand that you as the leader exist to create an environment where people hold themselves accountable. And if they don’t, you will. The lack of a culture of accountability is often a huge frustration to leaders and the source of dysfunctionality, starting at the top of the house and cascading throughout the organization. Accountability for performance and behavior, starting with you, is essential.
Help pinpoint how to apply your distinct gifts, learn new moves, and manage weaknesses before they become fatal flaws. If you know yourself and how others experience your leadership, you are now ready to set a plan to leverage your strengths, learn what is required to meet our goals and manage any weaknesses. An Executive Business Coach should not write a development plan for you and should not be your only support resource. Rather, they should provide support developing a measurable plan to leverage other resources that are around every day. When the Executive Business Coach goes away, and they all should in time, the executive’s development continues.
Be clear on your rationale for engaging an Executive Business Coach (not a therapist or life coach, interventionist, etc.) Seek someone who brings, at a minimum, the following five attributes to this important discernment:
Client references.
Real leadership experience in multiple business settings, not just as an executive coach.
Someone who is candid, direct and respectful.
A coaching professional who brings a specific process and tools, while open to modifications based on your business situation and preferences.
Most important to you is your sense of the chemistry that will exist in your relationship.
Videoconference technologies have enabled this type of support to be much more affordable and accessible.
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