Coaching for senior executives? Yes, it really is different
Executive coaching has recently seen a dramatic rise in demand, becoming a mainstream method for corporate leaders to improve their performance. The past year has fueled that fire. With the dramatic shifts and complex dynamics of current times, the role of the corporate leader has gotten even harder. Executives are not only facing more complex challenges to achieve business results, but they’re also being personally tested in ways that require them to build more resilience and to sustain their efforts.
The good news is that there are lots of executive coaches out there to meet these needs. The bad news? Not all of these coaches are prepared and qualified to meet the distinct needs of senior executives as they navigate quite a different world than their more junior colleagues.
What’s different about coaching senior executives? Given our focus on this population, we have found five keys to making these engagements provide high value for senior leaders:
Use the right toolkit. Through our research, we have found that the capabilities required to be a senior leader are fundamentally different than those for mid or junior level leaders. For example, senior leaders need to build trust at scale, manage a large portfolio of stakeholders, and carefully manage what they do and say to create the impact they want to have. Given these distinctions, coaching should focus on those attributes that make senior executives successful. And the more the coach understands these realities, the more effective they can be.
Recognize that it’s all about the team. Through our extensive experience in coaching senior executives, we’ve seen the critical importance of having a strong team of direct reports. As one senior leader recently put it, “If you have a strong team, everything is easy. If you have a weak team, everything is hard.” One of our primary and early tasks with senior leaders is to look at the capabilities and motivations of each direct report on their team. Does the leader have the right team members ready to execute on their priorities? Are these individuals aligned and motivated to achieve these goals? If the team isn’t ready, it has to be an executive’s top priority to upgrade, one way or another.