I was recently reading through a Harvard Business Review Research Report that I frequently share with prospective clients. It’s dated January 2009 and titled, “What Can Coaches Do for You?” You can find it on their website here.
I like the comprehensive nature of the article because it tells it like it is, including some of the ambiguity in the field of coaching. For example, lots of people call themselves coaches, but few are really qualified to be a coach. Beyond the International Coaching Federation, there are no standards, approved training curricula, ethics or practices for coaches…and if you believe Google ads, you can be a coach over a long weekend for $995. Comforting, huh?
This HBR article raises a lot of questions, but also clearly communicates that coaching has evolved as well. When “founded” over 2 decades ago, coaching was primarily used for outsourcing terminated executives and addressing derailing behaviors. Today, the most frequent use for executive coaching is about “being all you can be” (thanks to the marketing firm behind the U.S. Army for that one). Here’s what the survey showed:
#1 – Develop capabilities of a high-potential manager. This is about having “up and coming” employees develop new skills and use strengths to offer the company the most they are truly capable of as an emerging leader. A coach can help the candidate make huge strides toward achieving their highest potential and maximizing their corporate contributions.
#2 – Facilitating a transition. This can be a mega promotion or settling in the new talent. The most vulnerable time for any newly hired or promoted employee is during that first year. Think about when you accepted a new job with a lot more responsibilities. Wasn’t it a little daunting and disorienting? Having a supportive, confidential and strategic coach working to facilitate the transition can be HUGE to getting traction early and allowing the employee to understand their new role and their new expectations.
#3 – Acts as a sounding board on organizational dynamics or strategic matters. This is about a coach who will push you, pull you and challenge how you think and behave and open your eyes to what you aren’t seeing. I frequently tell my clients, “I see things you don’t see.” This is because I have different experiences from my executive background and I am hard wired differently than they are as a person. The higher you are in the food chain, the more important is the coach as a strategic thought partner.
Nearly 72% of today’s executive coaching requests are positive and developmental in nature; only 12% are to address a derailing behavior. So I ask you, are you hitting your stride? Are you all you want to be? If you are at the top of the pyramid, are you willing to invest in your emerging leadership in a way that offers them the ability to offer you their maximum contributions?
In leadership, everything is accomplished through others. Those “others” need every tool to take on the VUCA world we all operate in today.