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What Makes A Good Executive Coach
by Alton Byrd
Copyright (c) 2003 Clear Focus Coaching
1. High Level Business Experience--
For a coaching relationship to work, the coach and executive or entrepreneur must be peers. To be able to provide appropriate guidance, the coach should have not only worked in the corporate world but also have had senior level positions.
2. Interpersonal Skills--
The coach must be able to handle all sorts of complex and touchy interpersonal dynamics and be capable of sizing up and dealing with situations quickly. Good coaches have great listening skills also.
3. Integrity--
Honesty and the ability to keep confident are essential. Most coaches are dealing with not only sensitive personal issues, but also confidential company information. Integrity becomes the most important factor in a coaching relationship.
4. Political Savvy--
The navigation of what inevitably will be very treacherous waters is a key to good coaching. Executives and entrepreneurs need to be able to navigate the political twists and turns of a company, and a good coach is able to help him or her do that.
5. Flexibility and Creativity--
A good coach should be nimble, quick footed, comfortable with ambiguity, fast change, and lots of uncertainty.
6. Tough Love--
At the end of the day, coaching is about getting the results you want in the realistic time frames set. A good coach has to be able to deal with difficult issues, make people accountable, and ensure realistic outcomes.
7. Comfort at the Top--
Coaches have to be able to relate to being at the top and meeting the expectations of shareholders and boards. Being comfortable and having experience at senior levels are crucial for top coaches.
8. Organizational Insight--
The goal of executive coaching is to improve performance and to find common ground between the executive's needs and the needs of the company. A good coach requires significant understanding if the nuances of getting the two objectives to meet to achieve clearly defined goals.
