Friday, September 02, 2011

Making the Most of A Leadership Coach

In Fortune magazine, Vicki Elmer has a good column on the growth in the use of executive coaches.  She offers "four ways to make your coaching experience a success."

1.  Find the right match.

2.  Get clarity on your firm's expectations regarding the coach.

3.   Come prepared with key issues to discuss when meeting with your coach.   

4.   Make sure the coach observes you interacting with peers and direct reports. 

I would add that you shouldn't recommend that someone get a coach unless you think they are prepared/ready for that experience.   Some people may need some other types of developmental experiences to establish a "readiness" to be coached.  If you rush someone into a coaching relationship, they may not be willing yet to share their concerns about problems they are experiencing, or they may not even yet be fully aware of their areas requiring improvement.   If that's the case, then they won't get the most of a coaching experience.

3 comments:

Andy Kaufman, PMP said...

Good points, Michael. I've actually fired coaching clients before when it became apparent they were looking for a buddy or for someone to agree with them (as opposed to someone to help them grow). Thanks for the link to Vicki's article.

Unknown said...

what criterion do you us to select your clients. It sounds like the
ancient greek master teachers selecting students rather than vice versa

sigsoog said...

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