I’m right in the middle of reading around the subject of ‘coaching in an organisational context’ for my mammoth dissertation as part of ILM Level 7 Diploma in Executive Coaching and Mentoring. It sounds perhaps a little dry and academic, but essentially, I’m unpicking the environments and context of successful coaching in business today. It’s a really interesting subject, which I think deserves some discussion, so I’m breaking off to write about it.

Being coached has connotations that come along with it. At one end of the scale is the negative: ‘this person must be a problem’, or as some literature crudely alludes to it, and to paraphrase; ‘coaching is the last port of call before the executive is shown the door’. This reflects the connotations of a bygone era, where coaching was often deployed just before an executive was to be exited, as a way of the organisation demonstrating that they did everything they could to mitigate poor performance.

At the other end of the scale, and perhaps more commonly in 2019 (and certainly more helpfully), is the perception that coaching is accessible to the top performers, those with high potential for growth and development. Coaching is seen in this instance as a positive tool.

Whatever the perception around coaching, it can affect the coachee’s motivation and dedication. Make no mistake, the coachee needs both of these things, in droves, for positive outcomes from a coaching partnership. Let’s assume that the coachee is coming at this from the latter, a positive standpoint where coaching is a development tool gratefully received.

Queenstown, NZ

Coaching is undoubtedly hard work, and a commitment is needed from the coachee first and foremost to lean into this journey, for example investing in time, remaining curious and open to learn and grow. In some cases, especially where coaching is not currently understood and commonly used in the organisation, the onus on the coachee is considerable. It is up to them to find a coach, gain the support of an internal sponsor, perhaps even in turn convincing the organisation to embrace coaching as a development tool, address the idea of cost and investment and then ongoing, manage expectations of progress, outcomes and measurement. The coach, of course, also plays a considerable role in this process.

It goes without saying, the ideal, accepted and most common scenario in executive coaching would be that the organisation already procures a number of coaches and embraces the value of coaching as a growth tool. However as executive, leadership and business coaching become more popular at a grass roots level, it is more and more the case that executives find coaching before coaching finds them.

I am regularly contacted by prospective coachees who are keen to work with me, but they have a job to do first to encourage the organisation to embrace coaching. This is often the case in smaller companies, start-ups or even at the other end of the scale, more traditional or some public sector companies which have never embraced coaching as a positive developmental tool.

So, it’s worth thinking, even if I’m interested in coaching, am I really ready for coaching and can my organisation support me through this journey?

A Harvard Study (Kauffman and Coutu, 2009) outlined three main success factors for coaching, according to leading executive coaches interviewed within their study:

  1. The Executive’s motivation and commitment to change. This is essential. As Kaufmann and Coutu put it, executives who have a ‘fierce desire to learn and grow’ are those who benefit most from coaching. If you’re curious, open to learn, keen to develop your own self-awareness and grow through what is often a hard and reflective process, and you’re prepared to put the time and effort into this growth, then you’re likely ready for coaching.
  2. Support of sponsoring organisation. There needs to be a ‘strong commitment from top management’ to embrace coaching as a developmental tool, with the genuine best interests of the coachee’s development at heart. This is not something you can control as a coachee, but something that you can assess and impact with some research, suggestions and tailored conversations. If you don’t have the time, tenacity or energy for this, and you’re not fortunate enough to be in an organisation with a strong coaching culture, the chances are you’re not ready for executive coaching and you won’t be able to access it.
  3. Clarity of goals. If you’re clear on where you’re going, what you need to achieve and how you’ll know when you’ve got there, you’ll benefit from executive coaching. Clarity is key and whilst a good coach can co-develop this with you, starting from a point of clarity on what you want to achieve is essential to strong, measurable progress.

I’ve answered some more questions around how executive coaching works here and I’m about to prepare some more tools and resources to help those coachees who aren’t in organisations currently using coaching. I’m happy to talk about any of the above further and keen for thoughts / feedback which will help me in practice but also in theory… now back to my dissertation!