What is executive coaching and how can it help you progress in your career? In this article, you will learn what executive coaching is, and how it can help those in leadership positions obtain a deeper understanding of themselves, their motivations and behaviours, and develop a more progressive leadership style. You'll learn what makes coaching different from mentoring, how coaching psychologists differ from other professional coaches, what the role of the executive coach is in the coaching process, and the dangers of selecting the wrong executive coach for yourself or a member of your leadership team1.
Larry G. Maguire
Work & Organisational Psychologist
MSc. Org Psych., BA (hons) Psych., M.Ps.S.I., M.A.C., R.Q.T.U.
I'm a work psychologist with over twenty years business ownership experience. I am located at 15 Mount Street Lower, Dublin 2 where I work with people and organisations on behaviour and performance at work. Book a 30 min session to discuss your needs.
What Is Executive Coaching?
Executive coaching is a form of professional development in which you work with an experienced and qualified coach to identify goals and work toward success. With its attention on personal growth, executive coaching offers unique opportunities to improve skills, gain perspective and learn strategies for successful management.
Executive coaching is a sub-division of the broader field of personal development coaching. It is a process of personal and professional development operating within the sphere of business that aims to help executives, leaders, and entrepreneurs improve their performance, overcome personal challenges, and achieve their career goals. Executive coaching involves structured and focused engagement between the coach and coachee and is conducted in an ongoing series of one-on-one sessions over a given period of time. That said, some professionals choose to engage with their coach on a continued basis reducing and increasing the frequency of sessions as their needs require.
The role of the executive coach is to probe, ask questions, challenge, provide feedback, and offer guidance and support to help the business owner or executive identify their strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. The coach may also help the executive or leader set goals, develop strategies to achieve those goals, and hold them accountable for their progress.
Executive coaching is driven by the client's agenda. It can help executives and leaders develop a range of skills, including effective leadership, personal communication, conflict resolution, strategic thinking, and emotional intelligence. It can also help them overcome specific challenges, such as managing a difficult team member or navigating complex organisational change.
A Definition of Executive Coaching
Executive Coaching is a term used to explain the work undertaken by organisational psychologists (and other business and management training and coaching professionals) with executives from middle management to senior executive level. Executive Coaching links the personal goals of the client with the wider business goals attempting to assist the individual understand their own behaviour and motivations, and develop a more progressive and effective leadership style.
Develop The Leadership Skills You Need To Succeed In Business
Executive Coaching focuses on you, the business person, the entrepreneur, the individual, and helps you develop the self-skills you need to succeed in your work.
Why Do Business People Hire Executive Coaches?
In my construction industry days and immersed in the daily challenge of running a business, I hired coaches. Some were of benefit, others not so much. One thing all of them had in common was their focus on the systems of the business rather than the person running it. There's a vital difference between these two approaches, and to bring about lasting positive change, the latter is paramount. If you're in business for yourself or if you are in a significant leadership role, executive coaching may help you develop the skills you need to succeed. These skills include;
Enhance Leadership Skills
Autocratic, top-down, do-it-or-else leadership styles might be effective in a war zone, but not so in the modern workplace. Business leaders must be able to create an environment where people are self-motivated and empowered. Executive coaching can help you develop the leadership skills you need to be successful in your role. This includes developing better communication skills, improving your ability to delegate tasks, and enhancing your emotional intelligence.
Develop Professional Performance
Executive coaching can help you identify and overcome barriers that may be hindering your performance. What we're really talking about here is the performance of others and how you facilitate that. Your performance is built on the performance of others and executive coaching can help you develop the skills and strategies for this.
Manage Stress & Anxiety
Leadership is high stakes, and as we climb the business ladder, the emotional and psychological demands on us increase exponentially. Mental and physical health can suffer, therefore, accessing strategies to better manage these demands is critical. Executive coaching can help you manage the stressful demands of your role by teaching you strategies for managing your workload, setting boundaries, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
Formulate A Career Vision
Manage Career Transition
How Coaching Differs From Mentoring
Executive Coaching is similar to mentoring insofar as both are ways of supporting leaders, managers, and business people in their personal or professional development. But there are a couple of particular differences.
Coaching
Coaching is typically a structured and goal-oriented process that helps individuals identify their strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and create a plan to achieve those goals. The coach helps the individual to stay on track, challenging and providing guidance and feedback throughout the process. The focus of coaching is often on specific skills or tasks, such as helping the individual develop a greater sense of self-awareness and improving leadership skills. The coach does not necessarily have to know the technical aspects of the work or the particulars of the project. The coach's focus is almost always centred on the person.
Mentoring
Mentoring, on the other hand, is typically a close relationship-based process in which someone with particular experience in a given field of business provides guidance, advice, and support to the less experienced other. The mentor would be selected on the basis of their experience and shares their knowledge of the terrain with the mentee. They offer insights and perspectives that can help the individual and organisation avoid the holes in the road, so to speak, and make commercial progress quicker. Mentoring relationships are often more informal and longer-term than coaching relationships, where the focus is on career development and personal growth.
Another key difference between coaching and mentoring is the level of expertise required. Coaches typically have specific training or expertise in human development and behaviour, while mentors may not have formal training. In this sense, mentoring is based on experience and knowledge. Executive coaching, on the other hand, is grounded in specific methodologies or developmental processes. On occasion, a coach or a mentor may be both coach and mentor depending on their training and experience.
How Coaching Psychologists Differ From Other Coaches
A coaching psychologist is a “people professional” with an education and training background in psychology. They are usually qualified to masters or doctorate level and have extensive training in human behaviour, psychological theories and techniques to help their clients achieve their professional goals. Additionally, coaching psychologists are held to international ethical standards that view the human being as the primary concern rather than performance outcomes. In other words, they take a person-centric approach to coaching where ends do not justify means.
While there are similarities between coaching psychologists and coaches from other specialisms, there are also some key differences. One of the main differences is that coaching psychologists are considered to have a deeper understanding of the underlying psychological processes influencing human behaviour, emotion, and motivation. They are often qualified psychometric test users and may employ tools such as personality assessments, intelligence and ability tests, cognitive-behavioural techniques, and mindfulness practices to help their clients gain insight into their own patterns of thinking and behaviour.
Also worth noting is that coaching psychologists are trained to work with a range of psychological states, such as work-related anxiety, depression, stress, and burnout. They can help clients identify and overcome any psychological barriers that may prevent them from achieving their goals, obtain a healthy balance between life and work, and gain a greater understanding of self and others.
Finally, coaching psychologists are typically more focused on long-term personal and professional development, rather than on achieving short-term performance goals. They may work with clients to identify their values and strengths and help them create a vision for their future that aligns with their personal and professional goals.
Transformative learning is a central underpinning of our view of coaching. It involves deep, fundamental revision to our beliefs, principles, and feelings. It implies a shift in perception that has the potential to alter our understanding of ourselves and others and our sense of possibility.
Mezirow, 1990
Develop The Leadership Skills You Need To Succeed In Business
Executive Coaching focuses on you, the business person, the entrepreneur, the individual, and helps you develop the self-skills you need to succeed in your work.
What Makes A Good Executive Coach?
American sociologist Jack Mezirow's transformative learning theory3 suggests that certain experiences bring about a fundamental shift in belief and perception of oneself and the world. He reported that transformative learning is the expansion of consciousness through the transformation of basic worldview and specific capacities of the self. This idea is foundational in coaching philosophy and some of the best executive coaches have themselves undergone transformative learning experiences. The best executive coaches may possess abilities such as;
A Blend of Experience & Knowledge
A good executive coach should have a strong background in coaching and a deep understanding not only of business but of the human condition. Your coach should have experience in leadership and be able to offer insights and strategies that are tailored to your specific needs.
The Ability to Listen Actively
A good executive coach should be an active listener who can empathise with you and create a safe and supportive environment for them to explore their goals and challenges. They should also challenge you. Your coach will be listening for evidence of bias and skewed views of others and the world presenting alternative ideas that you may have not considered.
Effective Communication Skills
Your coach should be able to communicate with you clearly and effectively, both verbally and in writing. This should be evident in the contracting stage and will outline clearly and succinctly the nature of their offer. Your coach should be able to provide feedback in a constructive and non-judgmental manner, yet there should be no ambiguity.
Enhanced Emotional Intelligence
A good executive coach should have a high level of emotional intelligence and be able to help their clients develop their own emotional intelligence. They should be able to understand and manage their own emotions and be able to help their clients do the same.
Flexibility
A good executive coach who understands motivation and human behaviour will be flexible in their coaching approach and able to adapt their style to the needs of the client and the circumstances. They will be open to trying new approaches and applying alternative techniques to elicit optimal responses from their client.
Privacy & Confidentiality
The integrity of the coaching relationship should be a primary concern for you in choosing an executive coach. Coaching psychologists are particularly attuned to this requirement and will outline this imperative at the outset. If they don't, you should be wary. A good executive coach will, in accordance with ethical standards or professional practice, maintain strict confidentiality and be committed to protecting your privacy. The only caveat to this is a situation where you might indicate your intention to harm yourself or others. Otherwise, what you choose to reveal in sessions stays in the session.
What Is Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional Intelligence was first detailed by Peter Salavoy and John Mayer in their article “Emotional Intelligence” in the journal Imagination, Cognition, and Personality in 19904. It was later popularised by Daniel Goleman in his book Emotional Intelligence.
Emotional Intelligence is the awareness that emotions drive our behavior and can impact people both positively and negatively. Learning how to understand our emotions and that of others is key to managing ourselves in challenging and stressful situations. It is a fundamental ladership ability.
The Benefits of Executive Coaching
Perhaps by now, you may appreciate the benefits to you and those with whom you work by taking on an executive coach. However, it may serve to outline some of those benefits.
Developed Self-awareness
Coaching psychologists can help you gain a deeper understanding of your own strengths, weaknesses, values, and motivations. This increased self-awareness can help you make more informed decisions and lead a more fulfilling life.
Improved Professional Performance
Whether you are the CEO, VP, senior manager, or business owner, the business relies on you performing to your best. In fact, peak performance is the culmination of all the skills you may acquire by working with an executive coach. Coaching psychologists can help you identify and overcome any barriers that may be hindering your performance, develop new skills and strategies, and become more effective in your personal and professional life.
Enhanced Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the ability to process our own emotional states and that of others in a helpful and positive way. It is a key requirement for successful leadership. Awareness and empathy are key, and coaching psychologists can help business leaders develop these abilities. Enhanced emotional intelligence can improve your communication skills, help you build stronger relationships, and lead to greater success in your career.
Better Manage Stress & Anxiety
Life and work are inherently stressful, it's what makes us stronger and more capable. But sometimes, our ability to cope is less than what we need. Coaching psychologists can help you develop strategies and practice for managing stress and coping with difficult situations. By learning how to manage your stress, you can improve your health, well-being, and overall quality of life.
Build Psychological Resilience
The ability to navigate challenging conditions and come out the other side stronger for the experience is a key requirement for leaders in business. It constitutes psychological resilience and coaching psychologists can help you develop this mental skill. By developing greater resilience, you can become more easily process stress, overcome challenges, and achieve greater success in your personal and professional life.
Final Thoughts
There was a time in my work when I naively believed that because I owned and ran the business, I should have all the answers. I was a dominant and forceful figure with staff who were not empowered to make decisions. I was autocratic and dictatorial. But I figured out a better way to work, although not at a small expense. That doesn't have to be the case for you in your career. You may already know better, and that's a good place to start. However, you may need a hand navigating your way.
We don't need to have all the answers and, in fact, we are weaker and our organisation is weaker in that misled belief. We must learn to understand ourselves and others, to communicate effectively, to be calm under pressure, and to realise that there is always an opportunity to learn regardless of outcomes. In this sense, executive coaching helps us understand that it is systems and processes that are important and not outcomes. Outcomes are temporary, systems are permanent but changeable. The goal of executive coaching, therefore, is to focus on the process of developing oneself. Everything else will follow.
References
- Cox, E., Clutterbuck, D. A., & Bachkirova, T. (2014). The complete handbook of coaching. The Complete Handbook of Coaching, 1-504.
- Bennis, W. G., Nanus, B., & Bennis, S. (1985). Leaders: Strategies for taking charge (Vol. 200). New York: Harper & Row.
- Mezirow, J. (1990). Fostering critical reflection in adulthood (pp. 1-20). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
- Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, cognition and personality, 9(3), 185-211.
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