Joan Lloyd & Associates, Inc. - Tips for When, and How to Use an Executive Coach

Common reasons to use an Executive Coach . . .

When you have a talented executive/manager who makes a solid contribution to the business but who (examples):

• Has problems managing people
• Can’t communicate his/her ideas effectively
• Has problems making good presentations
• Is trying to change the culture and is meeting with resistance
• Has an ineffective personal style
• Has an image problem
• Needs feedback on a sensitive personal issue

 

When you have a new manager who (examples):

• Was promoted into a large stretch job
• Was promoted into a job with high risk/visibility
• Never managed a large group of people before
• Never managed multiple departments
• Never worked outside of his/her technical specialty
• Has a manager who can’t provide much coaching

 

When you have a valuable contributor who the company wants to save from outplacement / termination (examples):

• The employee hasn’t been told the truth by past managers and the company feels a sense of responsibility for the employee’s predicament
• There is a political time bomb ticking and the company is trying to avoid a lawsuit
• The person is connected politically in some way to the owner (friend, family member, protégé, etc.)

 

When you have a star employee who (examples):

• Needs to polish skills in communication to upper management
• Needs to become more politically astute
• Has to grow quickly to move into a bigger job fast, due to business changes, sudden death or retirement of key executive, etc.

 

Pitfalls to Avoid When Working with an Outside Executive Coach . . .

 

Before you hire an outside coach:

• Check references—speak to people the person has actually coached, as well as to their managers.
• Choose people who have executive experience, if he/she will be coaching executives.
• Choose a coach who has a successful track record of managing people, if he/she will be working with someone on employee issues.
• Beware of a coach who has had limited personal experience with organizational politics, especially if the issue at hand is political.
• Coaching certificates, from coaching “universities,” don’t guarantee the person will be a good fit, or have the necessary skills.
• Ask for all fees upfront, including potential charges for phone calls, in-office research and preparation, instruments, etc.
• Match the coach to the person. One size doesn’t not fit all.
• Set clear expectations about marketing other services while working with a client.
• Beware of the coach who overuses instruments because they lack the experience or skills themselves.
• Be cautious of a coach who doesn’t have a sense of urgency and professes the need to have a long, expensive relationship.
• Be careful of the coach who seems to be too eager to take any assignment, without thoroughly probing into the desired outcomes to see if he/she is a fit.
• Be wary of the person who may be acting as a “coach” between jobs.
• Be cautious about someone who doesn’t have any past success stories to share
• Avoid someone who can’t articulate his/her consulting philosophy and principles
• Others?

 

Beware of the coach who doesn’t do the following early in the process:

·        Identify measurable outcomes in a three-way conversation between the manager/coach and person to be coached (and internal HR coach, if applicable)

·        Set agreed upon ways to monitor progress

·        Get agreement from all parties about how to handle confidentiality

·        Set expectations about logistics of where and when.

·        Clarify roles and responsibilities of all parties

·        Establish rapport and trust quickly with the person to be coached

·        Actively involves the person’s manager in the process

·        Partners with HR in a respectful, collaborative way

·        Others?

 

When to use an Internal Coach

•  Performance problem is of a technical nature (not behavioral)
• Internal coach has necessary skills and is seen as objective
• Internal politics will not prohibit an open, honest coaching relationship
• The specific behavior change does not require extensive behavior modification

 

Before You Begin . . .

 

Regarding the “Client” requiring coaching:

• Does the person know there’s a problem / need for change?
• Has the person’s manager / others provided honest feedback and expectations?  If not, who will do this and when?
• Have consequences been clearly spelled out?

 

Are you the best person to be the coach?

• Do you have good rapport and trust with this potential “client”?
• Are you removed enough from the issues to be seen as impartial and objective?
• Are you willing and able to be an honest mirror of the clients behavior and can you provide non-judgmental feedback?

 

Do you have a clear understanding of roles, responsibilities and philosophy?

• What will be confidential?
• What will go in the “record” and how will it be used?
• Who is your primary “client” – the individual, or the person’s manager?
• What role will your own manager / others play?
• Who will you need to keep updated?
• What is your real goal? (Are there any unstated, organizational goals?)

 

Joan Lloyd & Associates’ Executive Coaching Process

 

 

© Joan Lloyd & Associates, Inc., Milwaukee, Wisconsin

(800) 348-1944  or  (414) 476-8853    Email: mailto:info@joanlloyd.com   Website: http://www.JoanLloyd.com