Executive coaching had bad rap for years when having a coach was considered as the first step toward the exit of the company. Today it is considered as a privilege to have an executive coach and many successful executives have a coach helping them being aware of their behaviors and impact on their interpersonal communication for constantly inspire others and deliver great results.
However there are certain situations when hiring a coach is only delaying the inevitable, terminating the executive.
Here the 3 main reasons for NOT hiring an executive coach:
1- The executive is not a role model. In my previous post I talk about how leaders must be able to influence others by walking their talking and being who they truly are to inspire followers . Some personalities simply cannot fit in the leadership functions or with such a huge energy that it is the recipe for failure. Nobody can change a person into someone she is not. Being the best player in a team doesn’t make you the best leader of the team.
2-Drastic changes in the economic environment. Successful executives during economic growth periods know how to constantly innovate, improve processes, make strategic alliances and acquisitions, watch the competition, anticipate for potential disruptive technologies, adjust goals and strategy to keep a competitive edge and make sure not to become obsolete. However when the economy is slowing down and businesses are declining some leaders cannot evolve. An executive coach is not a consultant even if this person has great technical knowledge, the coach do not have the answers and cannot be an extra brain to compensate lack of strategic thinking or vision so hiring an executive coach won’t solve the problems.
3-Lack of Integrity and misconduct. When the reputation of the company is at stake because of an executive misconduct such as sexual harassment for example. It is typically the kind of crisis when PR and HR departments together with the general counsel must react quickly and appropriately. This is beyond the competences of an executive coach.
Executives and Coaches, Please share your coaching stories: The good, the bad and the ugly
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Have you Ever Work With A Professional Coach ?
Was It Fun and Effective ?
If you answer NO, Maybe it is time to work with a TRUE professional coach:
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More reading: Who Needs An Executive Coach? – Forbes.com.
Tagged: Business, Coach, Consulting, Executive Coaching, Human resources, Leadership, Management
Great points, Anne. I’ve never worked with a coach, but I’ve been the one who hired them for others, with mixed results.
At a mid-size company that I worked for, the problem was that our executive team was not willing to be coached themselves (your point #1) – they wanted to hire coaches to “fix” the mid-level managers, without recognizing or changing any of their own behaviors first. Clearly, this was a set up for failure and a waste of money. Not surprising that there were integrity issues as well – point #3.
At another large global company that I worked for, coaching was embraced at the highest level and trickled down to the production floor. We had a robust internal coaching department, a VP of Coaching, and managers at all levels were not just coached, but trained to be coaches for others within the company. This program remained for years and the results were clear in the culture and performance of the company.
Hi Karleen, Any change program or coaching approach in organizations must be a top down approach, it is a question of leading by example.