Executive coaching is more than one-to-one support; it’s a game-changer that drives real business impact. Zoé Lewis explains
The phrase ‘coaching’ is used to describe a broad spectrum of services. From mentoring to training to working with teams, people have coaches for many different reasons. Coaching for business leaders has become more commonplace in recent years, and this has led to the popularity of executive coaching. But what really is executive coaching and how does it differ from ‘normal’ coaching?
Executive coaches require a deep understanding of leadership dynamics, the ability to quickly identify and address complex challenges, and a commitment to ongoing professional development
Executive coaching is inherently different from everyday coaching in several fundamental ways. This is not only because of the complexity of the issues addressed, but also due to the organisational context in which it occurs.
At its most basic level, executive coaching digs deeper. Everyday coaching often addresses simpler, more immediate goals, such as time management or assertiveness, and it’s suitable for a range of levels in any business.
On the flipside, executive coaching delves deeper into the intricate challenges more exclusively faced by senior leaders. They could be targeted on multiple complex objectives, while still working through their own ‘inner game’ for achieving those objectives.
Executives are time-poor and face sophisticated, high-stakes decisions daily. Therefore, it requires a different degree of skill to quickly identify and address the root causes of their challenges, drawing on leadership knowledge and a deep understanding of organisational dynamics.
Fresh challenges
In any business, the actions of one person affect a team. But when it comes to leadership, this is more direct and impactful. Teams rely upon their leaders for direction and support, and leaders need to have the skills to get the best out of their teams in return. While many people rise the ranks to become a leader, not everyone is given the development they need to navigate through the fresh and often difficult challenges that arise from the new role.
Because executive coaching focuses on senior leadership, it brings with it its own requirements for focusing the coaching in a different way. At its simplest, there are often issues with feedback when it comes to the highest level of leadership in a business, i.e. no one wants to criticise the boss. But if there are issues and it’s affecting productivity, these have to be addressed to ensure that the business can meet its overarching objectives.
This is why executive coaches aren’t normally in-house employees. There needs to be a level of detachment to allow for the senior leader to feel space, confidentiality and independence. Alongside this, executive coaches open up the objectivity to enable the client to observe differing viewpoints, allowing them to ascertain a quick and rounded assessment of where the challenges lie and what needs to be worked on.
Triangulation
Arguably, one of the most advantageous elements of executive coaching is the triangulation of sponsored coaching. Coaching of this style is an investment for any business, therefore it has to make a difference, and there have to be tangible results.
The triangulation takes the more everyday one-to-one relationship between coach and coachee and opens it up to also include a sponsor.
Executive sponsors are typically senior stakeholders in the organisation. They provide insight as ‘the eyes in the business’. This feedback loop is essential for aligning the coaching process with organisational goals, while also ensuring that the executive’s development is visible and impactful.
Tools such as 360-degree assessments and discovery calls with stakeholders often assist the executive coaching process. These tools provide comprehensive insights into the executive’s strengths and development areas, and can also be mapped against behavioural or competency frameworks unique to the executive’s role.
This enables the coach to tailor the coaching sessions to address specific gaps and leverage existing capabilities. By facilitating feedback from multiple sources, the coach helps the executive gain a well-rounded understanding of their performance and areas for growth.
Sponsorship
To break this down, the sponsor, for example, could be the CFO who is looking to progress the Finance Director. In the first session, the CFO would join the meeting and share what the challenges are from their perspective and what they feel needs to be explored as part of the coaching journey. This honest, open format, although potentially uncomfortable at the outset, always leads to much better results due to the nature of it.
The sponsor would then join again halfway through the process to feedback on what progress has been made. The unique advantage of this is that the sponsor will have also been able to gauge the thoughts of the whole team, and this feedback loop becomes an essential tool in progression and measurement which helps the overall business.
This type of feedback and understanding is something a ‘regular’ coach would rarely have access to, and it allows for a more targeted process. Furthermore, it means that a standard series of sessions in an existing formula would also not exist for executive coaching. The needs of the business and the executive are unique. Experienced executive coaches are skilled at targeting these needs quickly, with precise incisive questioning and enhanced deep listening skills, to effect transformational change.
Maturity
A final fundamental difference between everyday and executive coaches is the level of training and experience. Executive coaches need to have a wealth of both, and it’s only with this combination of theory and practice that they are truly able to offer the service that their clients need.
David Clutterbuck’s theory of coach maturity provides a valuable framework for understanding this better. According to Clutterbuck, coaches progress through several stages, from reliance on structured models to a more mature, fluid, and adaptive approach. When they initially train, coaches are taught the definitive line between coaching and mentoring. However, an executive coach knows that there is a beautiful balance to be struck as coach-mentor in what they do. This ability to ‘dance’ between coaching and mentoring is a hallmark of exceptional executive coaching in practice, enabling coaches to address the multifaceted needs of executive clients.
Transformative
Executive coaching offers genuine transformative power, not least because of the exacting criteria required of executive coaches to help leaders thrive. Executive coaches require a deep understanding of leadership dynamics, the ability to quickly identify and address complex challenges, and a commitment to ongoing professional development. Their goal is to help leaders tap into their full potential, navigate their unique challenges, and drive their organisations forward.
Executive coaching goes beyond one-to-one support. It’s about making a noticeable change to the business.
Zoé Lewis is CEO of The Leadership Coaches
