Executive coaches are more dangerous when they win the CEO's ear. This places them in a position to exercise great power over an entire organization, a scenario that occurs with disturbing frequency. Since many executive coaches were the corporate type in previous lives, they connect with executive directors much more easily than most psychotherapists. They are fluent in business language and easily move from discussions about improving a person's performance to carrying out interventions that can help entire business units capture or retain market share.
However, unless these executive coaches have been trained in the dynamics of interpersonal relationships, they can abuse their power, often unwittingly. In fact, many coaches gain control similar to that of Svengali both over the executives they train and the executive directors to whom they report, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Whether it's reflected in pop culture episodes of “Silicon Valley” and “Billions” that come to mind or when I take a quick look at your LinkedIn feed, it seems that lately everyone is looking for an executive coach or claims to be one. While it's great that the value of developing better leaders is highlighted, the popularity of coaching also has a risky side.
CEOs who are thinking of hiring an executive coach should be aware of these risks in order to avoid potentially disastrous results for both their organizations and themselves. A senior partner at a major private equity firm had received negative feedback about his ability to delegate. While it didn't really see this as a problem, the firm managed to get him to agree to meet with an executive coach to work on this essential leadership skill. The coach had been highly recommended, and the two shared an instant relationship and began meeting frequently.
However, what emerged in the following weeks was not what the organization needed or expected. It turned out that the executive reminded the coach of her dear father, who recently passed away. As a result, the coach lost all objectivity and went on to play the role of advocate, which basically reinforced his client's incorrect beliefs that the negative comments he received were unfair and not based on facts. It's possible that the coach had good intentions, but the unconscious and unrecognized feelings between them caused a deeper divide between the executive and the other senior partners.
This caused lasting internal conflicts in the organization and damaged the credibility of the human resources director, who had hired the coach, but was now forced to press against this external expert whom she once supported. Because of this wrong and probably poorly trained coach, the executive saw no need to change his behavior and the whole matter was resolved abruptly and clumsily. His team's staff turnover increased in the following months, causing damage to reputation and collegial relationships that were irreparably damaged.
Executive coaching
is essentially a framework for helping motivated professionals learn new behaviors.Learning and adapting to new practices requires time and effort, so be wary of anyone who offers simple solutions or quick solutions. Effectively executed, coaching results in what psychologist Dr. Robert Kegan refers to “transformational learning”, that is,. Coaching involves a deep knowledge of the environment that surrounds the executive and an awareness of behavioral reinforcements and cultural variables that can act as obstacles.
A credible coach must be able to identify and articulate all the forces that maintain behavioral patterns and develop a compelling plan to address them. Finally, a good coach must not only be an expert in understanding others (their motivations, insecurities, personality strengths, weaknesses, and the like), but also in understanding themselves. An essential prerequisite is to have a coach who has not only been trained on how people can change their behavior, but who is also aware of their own motivations. A good question when selecting an executive coach is if he or she has been trained before and what that experience was like.
What did they learn about themselves and what surprised them? They should know what it's like to receive 360-degree feedback, for example, and have substantial experience as part of successful organizations and teams. They should also feel comfortable talking about training commitments that didn't go well for them. Perhaps the most valuable skill that an executive coach can bring to their work is the ability to reflect, with crystal clarity and without judgment, the inner dynamics of their client. The most efficient coaches are like mirrors, flat and polished.
You can easily overcome this obstacle and improve the skills of your managers with a personalized leadership training program. Once your managers are trained in coaching and have the right tools, they can begin to impact their employees through the relationships between coach and coach. Take the case of Tom Davis, the coach who worked with Rob Bernstein, the executive vice president of sales for an automotive parts distributor. The coach's task is to recognize the advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches and to select the strategy for working with a client that is most applicable to the specific case.
To achieve quick results, many popular executive coaches model their interventions after those used by sports coaches, using techniques that flatly reject any introspective process that may take time and cause “paralysis” through analysis. Without safeguards that prevent coaches from training those whose problems are not due to lack of skills but to psychological problems, the executives being trained and the companies they work for will be harmed. However, the behavior-based coaching approach also has disadvantages, since behavioral change means the creation of an uncomfortable situation for the client (McComb, 201. In addition to the characteristics of the coaching leadership style, these are the main advantages and disadvantages to consider). But realizing that he had plenty of charisma, McNulty decided, while pursuing a business degree with a concentration in sports psychology, to pursue a career as an executive coach.
As management guru Warren Bennis observes: “Much of executive coaching is actually an acceptable form of psychotherapy. Executive coach deficiencies are often due to overconfidence in a particular approach or approach. Many selfish coaches are very effective at creating dependencies on senior and high-level executives who would otherwise be highly successful. Second, even coaches who accept that an executive's problems may require time to address, still tend to rely solely on behavioral solutions.
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