Frequently Asked Questions About Executive Coaching
What is the role of an executive coach?
What is unique about you? Why should I hire you?
How do I launch a coaching relationship?
How are coaching meetings scheduled?
How long does the program last?
What happens during a typical coaching session?
How is coaching different from consulting?
If my company hires you, how can I be assured that what I tell you does not get back to my boss or the board?
Why is coaching more effective than talking things over with a friend, mentor or peer?
Why is an external executive coach better than an internal coach?
Does executive coaching focus on personal concerns or just professional issues?
A part of me believes that anytime I meet with a professional to talk about confidential and personal issues I am in therapy – how is coaching different?
Who are your typical clients?
How much do you charge to facilitate the Executive Guidance process?
Why would I want to engage an executive coach?
To realize and access the power inside you to more effectively navigate your external environment.
To gain a new perspective on new and old issues and accelerate your progress toward your goals. In an increasingly complex business and world environment, your coach becomes a partner to help you think through issues, expand your awareness of options, reveal blind spots and help shift recurring patterns that limit you.
What is the role of an executive coach?
An executive coach is a navigator and guide to help you advance to higher levels in career and life.
Your coach will provide tools and processes to engage you on many levels. These help you recognize core dilemmas and conflicting goals. As a result, you will discover new strategies, perspective and creative direction.
Your coach will offer objective observations and will hold you accountable for following-through on your plans.
Coaching is an action-oriented process focused on the achievement of measurable results.
What is unique about you? Why should I hire you?
Because I am a trained, professional coach with substantial real-world leadership experience. I have completed hundreds of hours of advanced coaching training. I’ve been hired as a coach by numerous senior executives of companies of all different sizes and in many types of industries.
To my executive coaching practice, I bring 20 years of business experience (12 years as a CEO), an MBA, and many profound life transitions.
Also, I receive coaching myself. I continue to pursue my own personal consciousness training and inner work to better serve others.
How do I launch a coaching relationship?
Prior to the first coaching meeting, my associates and I may administer profiling surveys. We typically employ instruments such as a 360-degree Feedback Survey, Herman Brain Dominance Indicator and others.
We may also conduct interviews with peers, team members and managers.
I also research the company and industry to put the coaching issues into proper context. I’ll ask you to complete a “Checklist” to provide background on what areas of development you wish to focus on.
All this initial background data becomes the topic of discussion for the first coaching meeting. The data is also used to establish goals and your development plan.
How are coaching meetings scheduled?
Individual coaching programs typically consist of a series of twice-monthly meetings. We start with two initial consultations lasting approximately three to four hours. Subsequent meetings usually last about one to two hours.
The programs are always tailored to active schedules and specific goals. Meetings can be in person or by phone. When someone is out of town, I meet in person every 30 to 60 days with phone sessions in between.
How long does the program last?
Executive coaching programs typically continue for 6 to 12 months, with an option to extend. Follow-up sessions can be scheduled as needed.
What happens during a typical coaching session?
Specific results and goals are established and agreed to at the beginning of the coaching program.
We get together in person or on the phone typically for 1 to 2 hours. We do a brief “check in”, reviewing any fieldwork assignments. Then we will either work on a broad issue that we targeted in the initial coaching agreement, or a “live” issue you are facing.
We will often pull in a model or specific tool during the coaching session that you can apply to current and future issues. Sometimes we will have a dialogue, working within the structure of an exercise to help bring clarity and new information to a topic
How is coaching different from consulting?
Coaching focuses on individual people and their needs. Consulting focuses on entire departments and/or companies. Consulting focuses almost exclusively on business results.
Coaches engage their clients more with questions than recommendations. A coach will also give assignments and challenge you to learn new strategies and concepts, whereas consultants often concentrate on providing advice.
If my company hires you, how can I be assured that what I tell you does not get back to my boss or the board?
Confidentiality is key to a successful coaching relationship. Although ultimately accountable to the corporate client for results, my primary relationship is with my individual client.
Before coaching begins, I enter into a confidentiality agreement with each person I work with. I offer a parallel agreement with the corporate client that prevents anything discussed in a coaching session from being disclosed to anyone else.
You may wish to specify that your employer has access to information related to progress toward specific goals agreed to beforehand by you and your manager or the company’s board of directors.
Why is coaching more effective than talking things over with a friend, mentor or peer?
Friends, mentors and peers are not objective or trained to address persistent patterns and problems. While their insights may be well-intentioned, their advice is usually right for them, but not for you. In fact, they typically have vested interests that may, consciously or unconsciously, conflict with your goals.
Even experienced business executives typically lack the advanced training to develop others into leadership roles.
In addition, friends and peers are not likely to insist on results and hold you accountable.
Why is an external executive coach better than an internal coach?
The key reason is confidentiality.
Although internal coaches can be well trained and experienced, research has shown that executives (particularly at senior levels) often do not feel comfortable discussing information with internal coaches. This is especially true for the more tangled issues and those relating to leadership.
Does executive coaching focus on personal concerns or just professional issues?
I work on whatever areas that you need to address. My coaching tools are designed to identify behavior patterns in your work life. But these patterns will also appear in your personal or family life. I have observed that all aspects of a person’s life are interrelated. For instance, work life affects home life, and visa versa.
A part of me believes that anytime I meet with a professional to talk about confidential and personal issues I am in therapy — how is coaching different?
Although coaching can be very personal, it is not therapy. Coaching sometimes incorporates elements of therapy. As part of the coaching process, we may analyze underlying attitudes and thought patterns, for example. But coaching is built around action and supporting your development plans.
Coaching is all about achievement and results; while therapy typically is concerned with diagnoses and treatment.
Therapy concentrates on a person’s psychological dysfunctions. Coaching advances highly functional executives into extraordinary leadership positions.
I typically coach CEOs and other senior level executives and entrepreneurs of medium to large companies in a wide variety of industries. (Click here to read testimonials)
I offer programs that fit the unique needs of CEOs in leading, venture-capital-backed, early-stage companies, and certain mid-level managers.
My clients must demonstrate that they are “coachable,” which means they are committed to their personal growth and open to new ideas and support from others.
How much do you charge to facilitate the Executive Guidance process?
Costs vary depending on the level and compensation of the executive. Fees for initial programs range between $15,000 to $30,000 for senior executives and $8,000 to $15,000 for mid-level executives.
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