How Organizations Can Best Work with Executive Coaches to Get the Biggest Bang for Their Buck!
Many organizations work with Executive Coaches. You may even have a roster of a few coaches to offer your leaders and high potentials the best fit. This is a good approach, particularly for a large company that utilizes Executive Coaching a lot as part of its leadership development plan
But, what else is strategically important when companies work with Executive Coaches?
I have been an Executive Coach for 15 years. Before that, I was a vice president in the business. So I understand both sides of the equation. If you are a CEO, HR leader, or someone else tasked with managing leadership development, this article is an important read for you.
Often companies are introduced to Executive Coaches when there is a development need for an executive who is then paired with a coach. The coaching happens and hopefully the development, too.
But the difference between an ultra-successful development strategy untilizing executive coaching and an okay one is the systemic coaching approach. This requires a little bit of effort on the part of the coach and the organization, but the extra steps are well worth it!
When I coach a leader, I am not just coaching that individual. I am coaching around their entire organization and customer base.
How am I doing that when I only work with one person? The difference between a bandaid coaching approach and a systemic one is that in the systemic approach, the coach builds a relationship with the business and even other coaches on the roster within the organization.
There is a lot of learning that should go on for the coach about the culture and the system the leader needs to operate within successfully. This information is gained from the 360 interviews that the coach does with the individuals who work closely with the leader. Also, a successful coaching strategy should have a triangulation meeting between the coach, coaches, and their leader. This ensures strategic alignment and for a keen coach, it provides another learning opportunity to dive deep into the client’s surroundings.
Executive Coaches learn a tremendous amount about big issues the organization faces because of the unbiased, third party approach they bring. Over time, they see trends about what is working well within organizations and where there are strategic pitfalls that could be shifted to make a big difference.
A smart approach for the company that works with Executive Coaches is to learn from them, too. Of course, coaches can’t disclose any confidential information from their sessions. However, they can share overall themes with the hiring organization that they see over time with clients that could require some organizational shifts.
Invest in your Executive Coaches. Yes, these people are external. But, take the time to educate coaches on your organization. What directional shifts have been announced by the CEO? Are there big organizational changes that recently occurred? Who is the customer/client, and what is important to them? Having a meeting with your coach(es) a couple of times a year to keep them in the loop will pay off in spades. All of this information is critical to helping make the average coaching experience an exceptional one for the client and organization in terms of results.
I would suggest having Coaches sign a confidentiality agreement to ensure anything the organization discloses about private business matters stays within the coaching relationships and is used only for the benefit of helping better their leaders.
Development Opportunities:
Are you ready to take the leap to elevate your development? Find out more about my Executive Coaching Program!
