You’ve heard that an executive coach can help accelerate your career. But what does a coach do and, just as importantly, what do they NOT do?
In executive coaching, a trained coach helps you tackle leadership issues and develop skills to meet your professional goals. The coach provides a highly personalized experience that can help you move from where you are to where you want to be.
To understand executive coaching, you also need to know what a coach does not do.
Tell you what to do
Most importantly, coaching is not about the coach telling you what to do. Instead, a coach supports you as you find the answers. This unfolds through assessments, questions, dissecting good and bad situations, feedback and probing conversations. You have the answers and the coach helps you find (and commit to) them.
Focus on the past
Coaching operates with a specific focus and concentrates on the present and future. Most coaches are not trained therapists and won’t help you analyze your childhood or unwrap past trauma. If deep psychological issues come up, the coach should refer you to a trained therapist. Instead, the coach helps you consider current challenges and how to move forward.
Share functional expertise
Although many coaches have expertise in business areas like HR, finance, supply chain, and sales, the coaching engagement concentrates on the client – not on the business processes. For example, your coach might have a background in supply chain management, and you share an example of a frustrating interaction with your transportation manager. Your coach will help you find more effective ways to communicate – the coach won’t tell you how to fix your transportation issues.
Act as a de facto manager
Companies should also not expect a coach to be a de facto manager. The coach is not there to fix a project timeline, organize the work of the team or provide feedback to your team that you do not want to give. Instead, the coach helps the leader diagnose the issue, devise an approach, practice tough conversations and take the needed actions.
Executive coaches help you develop, grow and lead more effectively.
Adapted from ‘What is executive coaching and how does it work?’ published on Science of Working on September 5, 2019
