It’s the beginning of football season in the United States and we are seeing a variety of coaches on TV. Some are ecstatic as their teams win games, but many are showing frustration, disappointment, or even outright anger when their teams don’t execute plays as instructed and lose the game. Is this what you are looking for in an executive coach? Do you want someone to tell you what to do, praise you when things go well, and yell at you when you don’t live up to their expectations? I suspect you want something different. So, what is executive coaching all about, and when does it make sense to engage an executive coach?
What is executive coaching?
When I meet with a prospective client, I am careful to explain how executive coaching differs from sports coaching. In executive coaching, the coach and coachee (the client) are in a relationship where it is assumed that the coachee is “creative, resourceful and whole” (Coactive Coaching, Kimsey-House, Sandahl, Whitworth). What does this mean exactly? It means that it is presumed that the answers to any challenge lie within the coachee, and it’s the coach’s job to help the coachee uncover these. It means that the coachee is not only able to identify possible options, but also choose between them, act, recover when things don’t go as planned, and able to reflect and learn from it all. It means there is nothing wrong with the coachee or that they need fixing in some way.
Role of the Executive Coach
If the coachee is doing all this work, what then is the role of the Executive Coach? I like to think of myself as a partner on the coachee’s journey (notice it’s not my journey). This means that I ask a lot of questions, including some that require quite a bit of thought and lead to some “aha” moments for the coachee. Sometimes it also means that I’m a cheerleader and there to celebrate the coachee’s successes. I’ve noticed that many clients completely forget to take time to notice and celebrate their progress and wins. I’m there to ensure this does not happen. Sometimes I end up challenging the client (with their permission of course), so that they can be the best version of themselves. Typically, this takes the form of being an accountability partner. For example, I might say “you said you wanted to accomplish X by Y date, but you did not do this. What happened? What do you now want to do?” Notice that coachee is always in charge of their destination. I am there to support them and hold up the mirror to them when necessary.
Does this mean that I never give any advice? I try not to give advice for several reasons. Firstly, a coachee is more likely to take ownership for something they have developed, rather than something I have offered up. Secondly, most adult coachees know their own circumstances and work lives better than anyone else. They have the total picture and are more likely to know what will work in their own world than I will. Finally, I frankly do not want to be blamed if things go wrong. That may sound like a “cop-out”, but I want coachees to truly commit to any action and not use the fact that it was my suggestion as an excuse later for something not going according to plan.
This does not, however, mean I will never offer up some advice. If a coachee is truly stuck and asks me for my thoughts, I will usually brainstorm options with them. I’m careful to make sure they go first (so I don’t let them off the hook), but I will also offer up some suggested options for their consideration – they can take them or leave them, and I make this clear. I find that this process releases the coachee’s creative juices and they then come up with many other options of their own before they prioritize and commit to something that makes sense to them.
When to engage an executive coach
There are many situations you might want to engage an executive coach. It could be when you take on a new role and a new set of people to supervise. In this situation, clients are looking for support and a sounding board as they negotiate their new environment and aim to set themselves up for success. It could be when you are encountering some workplace challenges such as interpersonal conflicts, poor team performance, balancing priorities, or receiving negative feedback about your own behaviors. In these situations, it can be helpful to talk with an objective, outside party and sort through the data and your own feelings about the data. Or it could be that you are at an important cross-roads in your career and need to decide whether you want to change roles, change companies, or create a legacy as you prepare for retirement. These are all reasons I have been engaged as a coach and had the privilege of walking alongside clients as they create the next phase in their workplace journey.
If you think you might be interested in hiring an executive coach, feel free to reach out to me for a free exploratory session to find out if executive coaching would meet your needs: lesley@mackellarconsultinggroup.com
Lesley MacKellar is a leadership development consultant and coach who has worked in corporate America for over 25 years and now runs her own practice. She has worked on three continents and has a particular interest in emotional intelligence and the role it plays in leadership success. She lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, is married, has an adult daughter is a mom to three crazy, but loveable dogs.
Welcome!
I'm Lesley MacKeller
With more than 25 years of business experience on three continents, I work with individuals, teams and organizations to achieve results by assessing the current situation, developing high quality solutions and ensuring sound implementation plans are in place.
I have always been fascinated with what makes people "tick" - in other words, what makes us who we are and what do we do with that information. Yet, despite coming from a long line of school teachers, I initially resisted going into education or the learning and development field. So imagine my surprise when I woke up one day and found myself in the leadership development world of a multi-national corporation.