Harvard Business Review

A few years ago, we had a high-level corporate coach who devolved from a relatively effective (although a bit too est-steeped "developer of high performers" into a not-too-effective presentation skills/appearance coach.

In my final meeting with her, she informed me that "women who are tall and have dark hair are generally considered intelligent while blondes [I'm a medium-height blonde] are generally considered sexy and less intelligent."

I thought to myself,

Gee, that's news to me - NOT! Any girl with curly blonde hair and a turned up nose is used, from the first day of kindergarten, to being considered less intelligent. You just have to prove otherwise.

She went on to say, "But you, Carol, are getting to the age where sexiness is no longer an issue." [I was in my mid forties at the time.]

I thought to myself,

So, now I'm not only stupid but I'm not sexy either. Well, my husband would beg to DIFFER!!!!

And then she said, "And by the way, you should never wear gray because it brings out the gray in your hair." [I was wearing a gray suit that everyone agreed was fabulous.]

I thought to myself,

Woman, you have no idea what you are talking about. Every color on my head has been put there by Brenna, my colorist. There is not one gray hair to be seen, nor will there be!

Meanwhile, the jaw of the guy in the meeting with us just about hit the floor. Of course, I had had to sit there with a straight face while she told him how to deal with the fact that he was too short to make a strong impression and that his balding pate was problematic.

Had I been a less secure person, her commentary might have upset me. My husband was infuriated that I had to listen to such drivel, knowing how highly paid she was. But we all had a big laugh about it at the nearby bar that evening and drank to the fact that we weren't going to have undergo any more of that torture.

It's great to see coaching being promoted and accepted. When coaching is performed correctly it can help create profile and dramatic positive change. Glad to see this article.

Coaching is invaluable especially in today's economy.

Companies' employee assistance programs can make use of a skilled coach in helping employees being transitioned out of a company to use it as an opportunity for growth. In addition EAP's can use coaches as resources for employees who do not suffer from mental or emotional illness but just need an objective sounding board to find balance in their lives.

With the proper training such as that at the International Coach Academy, a coach who detects dependency, depression or anxiety issues will refer a client on to the appropriate professional.

Coaching is an excellent tool to get some one into the executives’ psychological frame work to show him/her a mirror. A good coach should share his/her experience in similar situations and this is where the choice of a coach is critical. The role is not directing but suggestive. It is not just about qualifications as a coach but experience. It is very important for both of them to be in the same wave length for communication to flow. The coachee and the coach need to understand the role of the coach is to help the coachee to sharpen the strengths and see how coachee can be helped to overcome weaknesses. If one perceives superiority or inferiority to the other, the effectiveness is lost. A coach can help the coachee to steer clear of trouble so that the coachee can progress much faster in his/her career and hence the growth of the organization

Thank you, thank you, thank you HBR.
HBR has brought the level of discussion on coaching up 1,000%. One improvement would be adding a paragraph of where Executive Coaching fits into the overall spectrum of coaching practices. Considering this is HBR, I would hope Business Coaching would be covered in the near future. It is not generally based within HR, nor is it generally thought to be linked in any way to clinical therapy of any kind. Possibly the third in the series would include Leadership Coaching. It is these three that relate most to the business world. Business people, like the general population could benefit from a Life Coach or Health coach, or other. Yet these are not directly related to enhancing business performance. Business Coaching is the one most involved with enhancing business performance at an organizational level. As well as requiring significant business consulting experience.

- Arthur

Were coaches the only respondents in the survey? Did you survey the "coachees" or the coachees' direct reports and managers?

Thank you.

Susan Kuypers

Good article. Straight and to the point. I enjoyed Carol's response above. Coaching "can" be effective, but there is a lot to be said for "buyer beware".

I am looking forward to more discussion on how to "qualify" a coach. While something is needed, whatever credential system that is put in place needs to be more than a cash flow vehicle for certifying organizations.

Thank you for the very well done article. I am surprised that you did not contact the International Coaches Federation, the largest of the Coaching Organizations. They are in the process of compiling a major survey of clients, the results should be very interesting, since you interviewed coaches and not the clients.

I have been coaching executives and senior management groups for the past couple of years and most of my experiences with "rules of engagement," and reporting have been similar. I do something a little for the groups, I create minutes from the team meetings which are shared with the Senior Executive at the location and conduct formal program evaluations.

I try to help people understand the difference between coaching, counseling and consulting this way. Counselors work on fixing you, consultants work on fixing problems and coaches develop your capability to solve problems.

My personal background is over 35 years in international banking in a number of executive capacities domestically and internationally. During that period, I "coached" a number of people, but then went to to Penn State University for a coaching certification in the Sherpa Process. This group, along with the AMA, conducts its own survey annually and can be found at the attached address:

http://www.sherpacoaching.com/surveyfp.html

What I learned is that coaching, done properly, is indeed a process. While the fear of charlatans you mention is correct, equally we need be concerned for those well-intentioned and experienced individuals who have not been drilled in what the process should be. Thus, it is easy to have an engagement become a permanent attachment without a rudder. Not really the expectations of the client, or the coachee.

For those interested, I would commend a review of the above survey which also attempts a reasonable way to quantify the ROI of a coaching engagement. For further, they should contact:

info@sherpacoaching.com

Looking forward to your results...

Ric Larrabure

I think it's critical for individuals to understand when coaching is appropriate, how to pick the right coach, and design the coaching so that it supports their goals. Having that clarity up front is key. So, thanks for the article HBR.

As a former executive who has been coached over the years, and now an executive coach and consultant, I think coaches need to keep their client's goals at the forefront and get some formal training in coaching. The industry is relatively new, and there is a wide range of skill levels. I think we need to continue to raise the bar, to elevate the profession and give our clients the most value.

The American Mgmt Assoc just published this study: Coaching - A Global Study of Successful Practices. Current Trends and Future Possibilities - 2008 to 2018. It's worth a read.

Terrific article. Critical information about the qualifications of the coach and establishing clear agreements and expectations early on in the relationship. Very important to discuss how progress will be measured. In the corporate setting - ask, how will debriefs be handled - with the specific client only - or, senior management as well.

As a coach, I find Carol's experience completely inappropriate and unprofessional. Very important that coaches be aware of Federal and State employment laws re: confidentiality, workplace conduct etc.

The International Coaching Federation [ICF] has additional information re: specific coaching competencies and criteria for 3 levels of certification - excellent information. Clear distinctions re: coaching, consulting, therapy and mentoring.

Looking forward to the ICF global study results.

I think this is an excellent article, one that will help to increase understanding of what effective coaching is...and isn't. For the past 22 years, I have coached dozens of C-level executives and one of my objectives is to help them become a more effective coach when interacting with those for whom they are responsible. (It is worth noting that Jeff Immelt spends at least 25% of his time working with GE's middle managers.) One of the best ways to improve one's coaching skills is to share the thoughts and (yes) feelings, indeed the passions, of athletic coaches such as John Wooden. There are several excellent books by or about him as well as a DVD about the great basketball teams he coached at U.C.L.A. Thank you for this article.

There is a growing need for coaches that understand coaching as being a process. Truly skilled coaches are adept at analyzing the coachees learning styles (most people are a blend) and then applying learner-centered principles so as to prevent the coachee from becoming dependant upon the coach. The ability of the coach to keep the focus on the coachee and the coachee's needs are paramount. Failure to do this results in the coach becoming the "sage on stage" and creates a dependant environment where the coachee looks to the coach for a solution to the immediate crises or problem rather than focusing on the process of developing the skills needed in correcting the situation and, ultimately, preventing this situation from arising again. This probably explains why the most favored qualification was experience in a related environment.

As the field continues to grow, it will be interesting to see how various corporate and economic factors influence professional coaching and whether those executives already participating as mentors will be encouraged or required to modify their roles. Hopefully, corporations, training departments, and individuals will discern when a coach, counselor, consultant and/or mentor, (or which combinations) will be most appropriate to the situation at hand. Coaching will never replace experience, but treated as it was designed to be, will enable our current crop of emerging leaders to succeed sooner and to develop their own management style and skill sets more quickly and that is what coaching is designed to accomplish.

Well, this article drew enthusiastic response and it is not hard to grasp that C-level executives, like athletes, are appreciative of good coaches. I have had the opportunity to do some of these kinds of coaching on occasion and have also used coaches several times. The right coach is not easy to find and all coaches are not right for all times. I was fortunate to stumble on a pool of good coaches in a group called Giant Leaders, and wonder if others can recommend other coaching groups that have enough breadth and depth to be useful to people in different C-level positions?

Thank you for a very good article. I am pleased to see how you tackle the angles in coaching which are somehow misinterpreted for business purposes rather than the real value of coaching.
The integrity of the coach’s credentials is a point I question. Historically, though not so long ago, team coaches were hired to work with a group of people with potential talent to play a certain team sport so that they become not just a team but a winning team. For this role, it needs a person who knows the rules, the tricks, and nearly everything there is to know about the game; understands the effects of group dynamics as the game is being played and outside of the game arena; and importantly knows how to play the game himself. This is the true definition of a coach. One who has been there, done that and learnt: backed by experience and wisdom. This credential cannot be earned in three-six months! In short, the title of a coach should be based on real merit, not by the many letters after a name. There is nothing wrong with the coach training as offered en masse today but I do have my qualms about the integrity of the coaching qualification.
I agree with your point that coaching, corporate that is, is a 3-way relationship. I have been doing this for eight years, coaching Transferees settle-in in Singapore and become effective in their roles in a new and foreign environment. It does work. Again, my own personal experiences in relocating, having previously worked in an organisation and my psychology background provided the skills and tools I needed to work with the Transferees and the company that hired my services. I would never have been able to coach in its true sense without the learning experiences in the past.
In the end, the burden of engaging the services of an effective coach lies in the clients’ hands. No amount of marketing can ever beat the good old Personal Referral scheme! Finally with coaching being seen as a profession, it won’t be long till the charlatans become extinct as they are weeded out.

Hello everybody,

Thank you all for your feedback on the article and for sharing your experiences with coaching. Some of you have asked if we surveyed direct reports and managers as well as coaches. We did not. Given the limited time we had for conducting the research, we focused on coaches, though in the future we may well want to look at the people who use coaches and buy their services.

I notice that many of your seem to be coaches, and as shown in our survey, you are mixed on whether coaches should be certified and by whom. The debate has just begun. Keep sharing your thoughts.

Meanwhile, we've heard little from actual users of coaches. Was Carol alone in her horrible coaching experience? Some of you had better luck. I'd love to hear more from all the consumers of coaching services.

Thanks again for writing in.

Thank you HBR for such an in-depth look at executive coaching.

I would love to see a follow-up article on business, as opposed to executive, coaching. While I was with a multi-national bank I experienced business coaching as part of a sales team. We had a very positive experience; it brought us closer together as a team and our sales figures did rise - we achieved our maximum bonuses, which brought us even closer together!

It was a very different experience than working with a consultant. I would like to see that examined in further depth - the coach/consultant conundrum.

This is an excellent article that really does highlight for me one of the key premises of coaching - to deliver results by creating a new sense of positive energy.

We set up agreed policies to cover the coaching engagement; these establish clear boundaries such that the coachee-coach relationship is built on a high degree of trust which in turn delivers a high degree of success.

At Shinergise, we believe that the most important dimension to coaching is flexibility and being dedicated to helping individuals develop on an individual basis - we commit to our clients' personal AND organisational success.

Great article, with lots of good practice statements within the full download.

Thanks for doing this.

Regards

Hamish.

Thank you for your article and audio.

Yes, it's VERY important that a coach/consultant/trainer (whatever) be willing to turn away clients. I think that comes with experience. When I prospect isn't a good fit, the situation is bound to not work. The sooner you can rectify the situation, by ending the relationship the better it is for all involved.

Back in the 90's, at coaching school, Coach U in my case, which I highly recommend (I won't hire a coach who doesn't have formal training, and I won't hire a coach who hasn't had coaching) we had a class on the subject of professional boundaries i.e. "when is it therapy vs. coaching". That line is so important to know. Because for some folks, they seek a coach as an alternative to therapy or an alternative to a 12-step program -- BIG RED flags of course. And as a coach, I am not, nor will I ever be a therapist. Although I have sent clients to one, and have ended a few coaching arrangements over the years because the client really needed therapy, not coaching.

I second that chemistry along with trust, along with hiring a coach who can help you with what you're looking to do is important, too. The first time you experience that chemistry and trust, well, it makes it so that you won't ever want to take on clients with whom you don't have it; and visa versa.

Again, thanks so much. I'm off to check out the other links mentioned.

Maria

Thanks for this discussion. I have been a consumer of coaching services because I believe it's important to understand my profession from a holistic perspective. Although it has been challenging to find qualified coaches, in the last 15 years, I've found three who have made a difference in my life and work. I've coached several physicians. Once, a urologist confided in me how his practice of medicine was transformed after he was hospitalized for a serious illness. Likewise, my coaching has improved through being the coachee.

In response to Diane's question about Carol's bad coaching experience: years ago, many of my clients told me horror stories about overly-confident, poorly qualified coaches who may have been "certified," but were a poor investment of time and money. In 1996, as coaches were proliferating and concerns about credibility grew, I gave a presentation at a national conference on how to select a coach, and I wrote a related article for the business section of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (published June 2, 1996).
I wish the HBR research had existed then!

Your excellent report was especially timely for me; I recently revisited the coaching credentials/credibility issue on my blog. I wonder if coaches will ever agree on standards for our profession?

I think coaching is growing and dying. Unfortunately, many people is offering "coaching" and aren't prepared for performing it (that is why you can read stories like the ones that appear here) and they are hanging from the results that good coaches bring to organizations. In my experience (I live in Mexico City) there are a lot of therapists that are taking coaching certifications looking for new alternatives, and a lot of them ended confusing coaching with therapy, and mixing them up (I observed that it happend when I was taking the certification) and just like they say in the post, the experience is sometimes more important than certification. So, when I present coaching as a service that our company offers, so many organizations think of it as a very expensive service that has not the impact they expect (for the price they are paying). The resistance to hire a coach is growing (because of the "terror" experiences are increasing) killing the opportunity for good coaches to do their job.

Thank you for conducting this important research on executive coaching! It’s very helpful to see research findings from a study conducted by researchers from neutral source, other than APA, ICF, AMA, etc. Further research needs to be done to assist client organizations in selecting coaches. Additional measures could be assessed such as advanced education and experience in industrial organizational psychology, the coach’s niche, the coach’s greatest area of coaching success, positive recommendations from other clients and organizations, etc.

Based on your findings about the importance of chemistry between the client and coach for a successful coaching engagement, organizations would be wise to pre-certify a cadre of coaches (both internal and external), give executives and other leaders the opportunity to interview more than one coach, and allow the client to make the final decision on which coach to work with. Also, it’s wise for coaches to meet individually with the client to determine if coaching is likely to be a successful intervention and whether or not there seems to be a good fit of the coach’s style and personality from their perspective.

I fully support the need for coaches to come armed with a methodology, forms, and strong coaching skills before they begin to impact a leader with a significant role. And, I heartily support the importance of establishing ROI measures, holding the client accountable, scheduling regular progress reviews, and receiving support from top management for coaching engagements.

When asked why he has a coach, one of world's greatest golfers responded by pointing out that he "can't see his swing". The point being that in the corporate world neither can the busy executive. Arguably, all executives (junior to senior) should have access to a process of objective mentoring or coaching. It is gratifying to see HBR tackle this subject although, as other respondents have indicated, feedback from coachees would be welcome next time round.

The article didn't deal specifically with performance management. As a coach myself, I find my best clients look for this aspect once the basic analysis and direction has been set. Also, great coaches will identify the value to the coachee's business of the assignment before accepting the mandate. This is critical, because ultimately if no value in financial terms accrues, it is unlikely the CEO or coaching sponsor will pursue the exercise.

I am so glad a client with experience of a not-too-effective brand of corporate coaching has spoken out, thanks Carol! Having experienced this similar kind of "Let me tell you what you ought to do with your life" coaching, I realise that there really is a big difference between coaching, consultancy, mentoring and supervision (the latter 3 being more likely to offer -- perhaps unsollicited -- advice than the first ever should).

Coaches should never, never tell you their opinion. Not until you have worked very hard in a session to discover for yourself what you need to think, see, and do. For one thing because people defer their own thinking too much, for another because the rest of us would rather think for ourselves thank you.

Mentoring or consultancy (sharing knowledge straight from the horse's mouth) can be very valuable and is part of any good executive coaching session, however it should only come at the end of a session and with permission from the client, once the client has made a clear and SMART action plan based on their own solutions.

You benefit from a coach only when they stick to the system of working with open questions and being present in a neutral manner, as a guide. Rhetorical questioning or opinionated/judgemental feedback from a coach (or manager, who should also be able to coach nowadays) only shuts down creativity and self-sufficiency. It triggers all the dependency and frustration of power relations you may be trying to work with your coach to get out of.

If your coach is certified and trained in a touch program that is accredited by an organisation like the International Coach Federation they would know this.

As a dedicated management coach I developed my methodologies and techniques through trial and error, by listening and studying and learning from others involved in coaching, and by learning from the mistakes I have made.

There is no best framework, no best coaching model, that works for everyone - effective coaches learn to adapt to changing situations and equally important they learn to listen.

I do not believe it is essential for coaches to be qualified or even credentialled. The market has in place a very effective self selection process - word of mouth. Were clients to ignore the marketing, seek access to references, and ask for evidence of successful outcomes, they would eliminate those coaches with poor reputations. Of course clients would need to recognise quality costs money and resist ordering the cheapest cab off the rank.

My belief is that coaching should be evidence based - through some form of feedback or observation - in that way the need to change becomes clear to the person being coached, they then set their own coaching agenda and outcomes. In those circumstances there is no need for the coach to 'tell', afterall it is only their opinion and as such of little value. The evidence also provides the basis for quantifying the success of a coaching program and the return on investment to the organisation.

Coaching has moved beyond being a corporate fad. The greatest qualification for being a coach is experience and wisdom. This is not to ensure you know more than the other person - experience provides you with the knowledge to know when to listen and when to ask a question. Combine this with evidence of the need to change and the person you are coaching will perform miracles, all on their own. That is the essence of effective coaching. It's not rocket science, it's not therapy, it is a process of facilitating and guiding.

Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon

John Coxon & Associates
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