By Sophie Chambers

What is Executive Coaching?
Is it some new age, cash cow looking to capitalize on vulnerable executives who are failing miserably at their jobs? Or is it designed for the elite group of execs who must absolutely be part of the latest craze in corporate trends and will try anything once? Is it therapy in the comfort of your own office?

Executive coaching is none of the above. Coaching has been around since the dawn of time. People have been coaching each other to fish, hunt, integrate with their community, become effective tribe members, and survive.

Coaching is primarily about listening and helping people to hear their inner dialogue so that they can start reaching their potential. Your inner dialogue is a key component for success in every aspect of your life; it impacts your actions, decisions and perceptions.

Why do I need an executive coach if I already have the answer?
Executive coaching can be described as an opportunity to tap into ones’ own inner wisdom through a thought-provoking, creative, safe, confidential process. A coach has the ability to shift your perspectives by inviting you to wear a different pair of lenses and so see things in a different light. When you hold a thought or believe in an opinion it is difficult to shift your perspective and hold two opposing thoughts at the same time. Coaching enables you to explore those dichotomies and discuss various options and outcomes.

Coaching creates the white space in your life that we all crave but rarely achieve. The white space is so crucial for us because it allows us to slow down and actually spend time processing thought in a meaningful way. It gives us time to reflect and digest on the busyness around us, which enables us to see the big picture and determine what is important and what is priority.

Coaching is focused on supporting you to reach your goals and enabling you to connect with the authentic you, which results in you realizing your potential. Discovering the “authentic you” creates a more focused individual who is crystal clear about their goals and objectives and how they can reach them. Coaching provides a sense of freedom, an opportunity to turn off the internal controls and liberate your thoughts and speech. The freedom to talk out loud without fear of retribution is extremely comforting and liberating.

This type of freedom allows you to engage and tap into your inner wisdom, which is always available but not necessarily felt or seen as regularly as you would like. Coaching is the conduit to creating change and transition out of deep thought, white space, reflection, and a commitment to growth and goals.

Coaching Examples

Example A:
Take the busy executive who was struggling to manage his time and felt that he really could not physically get through everything he needed to. Through a coaching session he discovered that he attended every meeting he was asked to regardless of whether he was really needed at the meeting. He figured out that it was ok to say no to a meeting without compromising his value or worth to the company.

Example B:
A very stressed out manager was finding it difficult to hold her team accountable and felt that she ended up completing some of their projects. After a coaching session she realized that she was micro-managing the team and that her team knew she would step in and take over so they didn’t need to worry about finishing a project. This insight enabled her to realize that she needed to be hands off and show her team that she trusted them to do a good job.

Both examples are cases where the person knew the answer but was so busy doing; they did not stop to think of the root cause and the corresponding solution.

Can my company or myself afford to invest in coaching?
Yes, you can afford to invest in coaching because coaching is about you realizing your potential. Coaching sessions can be anywhere from a 30 min laser focused session to a 90-minute session weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. Coaching is typically a 6-12 month commitment, which allows the coachee the time and space to fully explore their priorities and goals.

A study of 100 executives coached for 6-12 months in duration documented an ROI of 570 per cent on the initial investment in the coaching program. ¹ Executives and their organizations also obtained intangible benefits including improved relationships with direct reports, peers, and stakeholders, as well as improved teamwork, increased job satisfaction, and reduced conflict.

The coach is not advising or setting the agenda, the coachee comes prepared with a purpose for the coaching session. The coach believes the coachee has all the answers and is the expert in his/her life.

Return on Investment
Studies prove that the ROI on coaching is a phenomenal success. Companies have started to see the benefits of one-to-one coaching in its employees, which is cost competitive with day or weeklong courses.

A 2004 study evaluated the business impact of Leadership Coaching at a Professional Services Firm and determined the ROI was 689 per cent (factoring in the fully loaded cost of the coaching including opportunity cost associated with the time leaders spent being coached). ² The main competencies that coaching assisted leaders to develop included: Leadership behavior (82 per cent) Building teams (41 per cent) Developing staff (36 per cent). The leaders were very satisfied with their coaching experiences: 95 per cent are doing things differently as a result of coaching, and 95 per cent would recommend coaching to other company staff.

A 2001 study on the impact of coaching in a Fortune 500 firm found an ROI of five to seven times the initial investment in an executive coaching program. ³ Coaching produced a 529 per cent return on investment and significant in tangible benefits to the business. Including financial benefits from employee retention, ROI was boosted to 788 per cent.

Whether you are struggling with business issues, you are a great manager but you want to be better, you have just been promoted, you want to be a Level 5 leader, your experiencing personnel conflicts, or you have your own insecurities, coaching gives you the space to verbalize the issues out loud and process solutions without compromising your integrity or trust. ⁴

Sophie Chambers, MBA, CEC is a certified executive coach and the principal of Kelebek Consulting Group.

1 The Manchester Review (2001, vol 6, no. 1): “Maximizing the Impact of Executive Coaching: Behavioral Change, Organizational Outcomes, and Return on Investment”
2 MetrixGlobal LLC (2004): “The Business Impact of Leadership Coaching at a Professional Services Firm”
3 MetrixGlobal LLC (2001): “Executive Briefing: Case Study on the Return on Investment of Executive Coaching”
4**Jim Collins discovered when analyzing the research for his book “Good to Great,” that the leaders who ran the “great” companies during the transition from good-to-great were all “Level 5″ leaders.