Executive Coaches are like any other breed of professional: some are good, some are not. But because the potential impact of an executive coach can be so significant, their defects, blind-spots and shortcomings need to be rigorously understood before hiring them.
The deficiencies of executive coaches often result from over-reliance on a particular approach or focus. Here are 10 of them: 1. Certification — contrary to what the certifying bodies would have us believe (presumably to maintain revenues), there is no reliable linkage between certification and competence. The best coaching happens spontaneously, in the moment, so the kind of guidelines and methodologies that can be formalised, tested and policed by these bodies will detract from the coaching experience if adhered to. There are bad coaches that are certified and good coaches that are not — and vice versa. Certification does not exempt the client from selecting their coach with care. 2. Fix-It Coaches — some coaches see clients as broken, and themselves as the solution. This can be symptomatic of the coach taking a mechanistic view of their clients which will limit the impact they can have. Or, in some cases, the coach is looking to fix others as a subliminal displacement activity to fixing themselves. Neither is effective. The truth is that none of us are broken (even though it can and does feel like it at times) and attempts to repair another simply validate the mistaken impression. Instead the coach needs to facilitate a higher perspective from which the client can see things as they really are. 3. Structured Processes — these usually appear in the form of acronyms and signal that the coach is wedded to an algorithmic process — if this, then that… The problem with using such a methodology is that it prevents the coach and client making meaningful contact with each other with the structure or framework sitting squarely in between them, and is the coach’s reference point. One of the prime responsibilities of a coach is to bring the client’s frame of reference quickly and firmly back to themselves, to discover their own inner resources and strength. This is the true meaning of integrity which can only be undermined by constantly referencing external frameworks. 4. Mindset — mindset is a good focus for executive coaching as mindset conditions behaviour. However, when the coach becomes intent on modifying the client’s mindset to produce a better one, that creates a problem as the better mindset is invariably the coach’s mindset. This works well for training, but coaching has a very different agenda, looking instead to connect the client with their own insights and inspiration, which exist beyond the realm of fixed beliefs. The word mindset means fixed mind — the antithesis of the brain’s neuroplasticity. 5. Motivation — these coaches believe that clients can be driven to change by telling them how wonderful they are, how much potential they have and that all they have to do is think positively to realise it. True motivation — more accurately called inspiration — can only come from self, never from another. External motivation is compulsion and compulsion is not sustainable. Rather, the true coach seeks not to motivate but to uncover the client’s own, inner inspiration as an inexhaustible supply of enthusiasm, energy and purpose. 6. Law Of Attraction — the law of attraction is such a beguiling proposition that coaches to whom it appeals build their offering around it. The problem here is that the coach may not have fully integrated the law into their own lives before selling the approach to their clients. It remains an aspiration rather than a reality to both coach and client. The law of attraction is as simple as it is powerful, and it is all too easy for our sophisticated intellects to get in the way of its operation. For many of us new perspectives need to be established before we can expect the law of attraction to do what it says on the tin. 7. Neuroscience — the burgeoning science of neurology is providing coaches with plenty of science with which to validate their models of the mind. But exploring the objective brain in terms of neuroscience is not equivalent to experiencing the subjective mind. Neuroscience (still in its infancy) can never replace the need to explore our own inner dynamics experientially. Given our 24/7 access to the most sophisticated structure in the known universe (our minds) should we not prioritise getting to know it just as well as we know the external world? 8. Dependency — some coaches are very good business people. Their instinct is to maximise revenue by extending the coaching relationship for as long as possible. This is fundamentally unhealthy and unethical — coaching needs to deliver independence and self-reference, regardless of the financial implications. Coaches need to focus on delivering value not generating income. When they do, new clients arrive through their good work being referred to others in need of a coach. 9. Specialisation — coaches that have had a short career or have specialised in a specific discipline (e.g. psychology) may not have the requisite breadth of experience to resonate with the client’s challenges and their context. Specialisation is fine but within a broad foundation that needs to include leadership. A CEO may well benefit from hiring a coach with no corporate or leadership experience, but the impact will be limited and neither may be aware of where those limits are. 10. Performance — many clients hire coaches to improve their performance. But, paradoxically, a focus on performance is counter-productive. The reason is simply that performance is an outcome, not a cause. Good coaches focus on the causal realm and ignore the symptoms in the knowledge they will look after themselves. For a good coach, performance is a distraction. The pressure to quantify the improvements in performance delivered by the coach can be intense, particularly in a corporate environment. The harsh reality is that any attempt is utterly meaningless given the myriad variables at play. Beware coaches that promise percentage returns on investment! So there we have ten coaching syndromes which potential buyers of coaching services would do well to be aware of. Emphasising these deficiencies begs the question: so what skill does a good coach actually need? Perhaps the most valuable skill that an executive coach can bring to their work is the ability to listen and reflect back – with crystal clarity and no judgement – the inner dynamics of their client. The most effective coaches are rather like mirrors, flat and polished. |