In the first coaching session with a client, it is not uncommon to learn about a leader’s varied attempts to change. These attempts frequently include attending a management course, reading a popular business book, or simply setting goals on paper or in a fancy mobile app. I’ll never forget one of my first coaching clients who shared how much money he had invested in annual leadership workshops that involved screaming, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and even walking on coals. While some of these methods can influence attitude and sometimes elicit change, executive coaching is recognized for its powerful ability to affect deeper and sustained behavioral change.
A key reason why executive coaching is such a powerful intervention for creating change is because it entails the focused involvement of another person. Thus, the intrapersonal growth achieved in coaching is a result of an interpersonal journey. But how can an outsider with little-to-no background about an executive’s intricately complex world just step in to add value and affect real change?
Based on our cross-sector coaching work at AIIR, we typically find that leaders possess the answers to their problems, even before the coaching has started! Indeed, it is their very knowledge, drive, and brilliance that has elevated them through the corporate ranks into their current roles. However, a second common finding is that these leaders rarely have the time, structure, or reflective mindset to identify, experiment, implement, and reinforce those answers.
In this context, the real value of engaging an executive coach is not to receive more advice, training, or answers. Instead, the value of a coach is helping the coachee discover the answers that reside within, but are often times competing with other ideas, forgotten, or simply buried. A coach helps their executive client access these answers by:
For a coach to effectively execute on the above, there must be a rock-solid coaching relationship. The research is very clear that a coach's ability to form a trusting and positive coaching relationship is the strongest predictor for coaching success (3). This data implies that even more important than a coach’s methodology, background, tools, or certifications, the relationship between coach and coachee is “one of the most significant factors in effective coaching” (4). The opposite is true as well. According to Peterson (2010), inadequate trust and lack of chemistry often lead to “premature termination” and breakdown of the relationship (3).
Based on this research, in next week's blog post, I will take a closer look at the important aspects of a successful coaching relationship, as well as how those aspects can be leveraged by coaches, HR, talent management, and business leaders alike.