The Most Thorough Guide to Executive Coaching in 2021
60 years ago, executive coaching was virtually nonexistent; 50 years ago, it began to emerge as a service strictly reserved for CEOs and C-suite executives as the last resort when they weren’t performing at their best.
In these past decades, executive coaching has slowly but surely been on an upwards trajectory in demand.
Today, things have largely changed within the coaching world. Executive coaching has become more accessible and popular as more and more organizations hire executive coaches to coach leaders—of all levels—by fostering individual leadership performance that positively impacts the organization as a whole.
Executive coaches are in more demand than ever as more and more people see the value in these services. Some coaches are so sought after that they can comfortably charge upwards of $3,500 an hour.
Do executive coaching services justify this hourly premium? Do they have to be this expensive to prove their worth? How do you go about picking a coach and settling on a price range?
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll dive into the world of executive coaching by answering our most frequently asked questions about executive coaching and clear up all of the confusion regarding these services.
What Is the Definition of Executive Coaching?
The broadest executive coaching definition is:
Executive coaching is the partnership between a coach and a leader [in any capacity]. They engage in a stimulating, creative, and encouraging process that challenges them to amplify their professional and leadership potential.
To understand executive coaching—as we know it today—we have to understand its roots.
It began to take shape in the early 1970s in the realm of company founders and high-profile executives, hence the name executive coaching.
Big companies invest in their leadership by hiring executive coaching to help guide and train employees in leadership positions, not necessarily to increase business growth and success, but as a last resort to curb unwanted behavior from executives or as a way to whip them into shape instead of firing them.
Little by little, organizations and leaders everywhere began to see the positive effects that rippled down the entire business or company just by coaching their most critical players.
Executive coaching transformed into a service that is leveraged for important employees and leaders within an organization (rather than just the CEO). And is now used for more than just fostering leadership potential but for expanding the growth of a company and improving its overall function.
What Are the Benefits of Executive Coaching?
Obviously, every individual and organization needs help in different areas and stands to gain distinct benefits from executive coaching; every situation is different.
But here are the basics of executive coaching benefits that form the foundation of an executive coach’s training.
1.Executive Coaches Sharpen Your Leadership Skills
Nobody taught you how to be a leader. Successful leaders possess distinct qualities that most people aren’t born with.
Leadership coaches are well versed in these distinct qualities and are equipped to instill them within each of their clients.
Whether it be making better decisions on the spot, communicating more efficiently, motivating others, extinguishing a workplace drama, or efficiently juggling your day-to-day tasks with your leadership tasks—an executive coach will sharpen these leadership skills.
2.Boost Your Motivation
An executive coach will act as your personal sounding board and #1 supporter; this makes them the perfect partner to encouraging creative thinking, strategizing game plans, overcoming obstacles, and charting the course for your personal and professional future.
Stimulating conversations and plans like these will keep you motivated to continuously do your best.
Most importantly, this motivation will translate into your team members and everyone else around you in the workplace—boosting overall morale.
Furthermore, the objectivity that executive coaches offer makes them the perfect sounding board for encouraging creative thinking, strategizing a game plan or leadership team shift, overcoming obstacles, and planning for your personal and professional future.
3.Maximize Your Strengths
Executive coaching starts with your personal and instinctive skills to expand your leadership, personal, and professional development.
In other words, your executive coach will build on your existing strengths, maximizing them to their fullest potential.
This will encourage you to keep doing what you’re doing right, boosting your self-esteem while improving everything else.
4. Detect and Overcome Your Weaknesses
It is difficult for anyone to point out their weaknesses, but it is necessary for any type of development.
A coach will offer an objective outside perspective, a 360 view of yourself that you could never achieve on your own.
This perspective will give you the ability to point out blind spots and shortcomings.
To address and improve your weak spots, you have to be self-aware about each and every one of your deficiencies.
Your coach will shine a light on these weaknesses—objectively and productively—in order to begin the work of improvement and change.
6. Respond More Effectively to Any Situation
This objective and expanded viewpoint will considerably improve your decision-making and reaction skills.
Your coach will not have conflicting interests or biased opinions when it comes to your situation. This point of view will give you a clearer view when considering different issues, individuals, or situations—helping you make more informed, objective decisions.
5. Establish and Maintain Productive Relationships
A good leader knows that pushing those around them to succeed will push him to succeed.
A leader’s success comes from the growth of their team and employees at every level.
An executive coach will coach you on creating meaningful and productive relationships with colleagues—above and below you—so that you can directly inspire, encourage, and build them up.
As a leader, your goal is to get your team to perform at their best. With the help of a coach, you can get them there.
Is Executive Coaching Only for Executives?
Short answer: No
Long answer: Executive coaching is interchangeable with the term leadership coaching because it ISN’T just reserved for the CEOs and top executives of a Fortune 500 company.
Executive coaches specialize in helping individuals in any leadership role within organizations—big and small—who want to expand their leadership potential and acquire the leadership skills necessary to grow their business and/or careers.
Here are some examples that depict the perfect candidates for executive coaching.
New Leaders
Maybe you just got promoted to a leadership or management position at your job or just got hired to a new job that includes managing others below you.
Most people aren’t trained before being thrown into a position like this, and becoming “role-ready” can take a lot of time and comes with many mistakes.
You want to prove to your boss that you can handle the new responsibility of leading others but don’t want to abandon your day-to-day tasks outside of your new leadership role.
An executive coach will cut your time becoming “role-ready” in half and give you the necessary tools to become an effective and beneficial leader.
Team Leaders/Managers
A team leader or manager at any company or business who leads a group of people—large or small—would greatly benefit from the help of an executive coach to stand out as a stellar leader while still keeping up with their job responsibilities.
A coach will help you effectively use your leadership to create productive team environments, motivate your team, and ultimately lead your employees to enact growth for the company.
CEOs
To be in the position of CEO, you probably have some leadership experience under your belt. Still, it’s important to consider the fact that in the current business climate, half of CEOs are fired instead of stepping down consensually.
It’s a fact; CEO’s just like most people, aren’t trained on how to be effective leaders for their companies.
With their level of responsibility, every CEO needs performance coaching to help them maximize their leadership potential. Because without a strong captain—a company runs the risk of sinking.
Business Owners
Business owners can benefit immensely from business coaching, but executive coaching can also benefit them in certain circumstances.
When a business is growing rapidly and a business owner begins to manage more people and employees, they will need the help of an executive coach to productively direct all of the new moving parts.
Many executive coaches have a lot of business experience before their coaching and know what business owners go through when running a business and trying to direct their employees efficiently.
Does Executive Coaching Actually Work?
Being in charge of any number of people, whether you’re a CEO of a company or the manager of your marketing department, is a difficult role to fill. When the growth of your company or team lies on your shoulders, it can be a challenging and sometimes unconquerable feat.
The statistics I mentioned earlier about the high percentage of CEOs that are fired is an alarming statistic that shows just how underprepared most individuals are in leadership positions.
A lot is expected from leaders—too much is expected—compared to how little support and training they actually receive.
The corporate elite have always known this. For decades, multimillion-dollar companies have been paying BIG price tags for leadership coaching for their most critical players. There’s a reason why the demand for executive coaching has begun to trickle down to mid-sized and smaller companies —It’s because executive coaching actually works.
A study done carried out by the Harvard Business Review found that out of three stock portfolios made up of companies that invested aggressively in employee development, “each outperformed the S&P 500 by 17 - 35% during 2003.”
As more companies realize that their most important assets are their employees and leaders, the demand for executive coaching becomes more competitive. Improving yourself as a leader is now a critical tactic to outperform your competition.
How Much Should I Pay for an Executive Coach?
You should pay a price tag that is affordable for your budget and income.
Executive coaching has been notorious for its absurdly high price tags that have been historically reserved for the executive elite.
And those that need coaching the most are the ones who don’t have those deep pockets to pay $3,500 an hour for executive coaching.
Thankfully, things are changing, and executive coaching is becoming more accessible because of coaching platforms like CoCaptain that are making it their mission to get the right coaching for people on the other end of the spectrum that don’t have the ability to pay 4 figures per session.
What Coaching Skills Should I Look For in an Executive Coach?
Certain coaching skills make for an exceptional executive coach. When interviewing a potential coach, make sure to look out for these qualities:
Leadership Experience
Experience is truly the best teacher, and you want to be coached by someone who has been in your shoes and knows exactly what you’re going through.
It doesn’t matter how much they’ve read or learned about leadership; if they haven’t been in that position, they will struggle to give valuable leadership coaching.
Objectivity
You want a coach that will give you an objective viewpoint no matter what. You don’t want your advice to be clouded by biases.
To get that clear, 360 point-of-view of yourself and your surroundings, you need a coach that will give it to you straight.
Ability to Listen
Before choosing a coach, talk to your potential candidates. When interviewing, make sure to pick the candidate that did the least amount of talking.
The ability to listen to you is the foundation of a good coaching relationship—especially in the first sessions, is one of the best ways to separate a good coach from a mediocre one.
A coach’s job is to shine a light on the possibilities and give you the tools you need to succeed, but ultimately you are the one that is leading the way and calling the shots.
Accountability
Part of an effective coach’s job is to hold you accountable. They are basically your accountability partner who will be there every step of the way, making sure you follow what you set out to do.
They will remind you of your path and push you to achieve every goal—big and small. Make sure your coach has the dedication and coaching style that allows them to be your accountability partner.
Passion
At the end of the day, if your coach doesn’t express a passion for what they do, it will be difficult to spark a passion for leadership within your situation.
Passion is what drives all of us to be our best at what we do, and if you don’t sense a passion for leadership development or coaching within your executive coach, then it probably means you aren’t getting the best coaching experience out there.
How Does One Become an Executive Coach?
Experience
A 2018 study done by the American Management Association found that the most important qualification people look for in a coach is experience within their coaching line.
Most coaches coach in areas in which they have had personal and professional experience.
A coach’s experience with a certain subject or area directly correlates with who will hire them for their services.
In line with this, most executive coaches are hired because of the leadership experience they have under their belt. The years a coach has been in leadership positions, the types of roles they’ve filled, and the industries they’ve worked in all count for different things.
And at the end of the day, the passion, intuition, and skill their experience brings to their coaching sessions are priceless.
Training
In order to receive coaching certifications, a coach must undergo executive coach training.
There is no formal consensus on what coach training programs a coach much have to be considered a “valuable coach.”
But trainings are always a plus. Coaches, whether they’re starting out or are seasoned coaches, should always be focused on continuously learning new information about their industry and consistently improving their coaching skills.
Coaching institutes like the Coach Training Alliance, universities like Brown, and private coaching firms offer training and mentor coaching of all kinds.
Whether it’s a yearly conference on the real estate market, training on intuitive coaching, or an online course in compassionate leadership—training makes coaches better equipped at sharpening their client’s skills.
Certifications
There is no formal consensus on what executive coaching certification a coach should possess. However, certifications given by the world’s most respected coaching organization, the International Coaching Federation (ICF), are the best way to determine if a coach is legitimate or not.
The ICF offers three business coaching programs:
ACC — Associate Certified Coach, requiring 60 hours of training and 100 hours of experience
PCC — Professional Certified Coach, requiring 125 hours of training and 500 hours of experience
MCC — Master Certified Coach, requiring 200 hours of training and 2,500 hours of experience
A certified coach program gives their students enhanced coaching experience and invaluable information on becoming successful coaches in the long run.
What Does a Typical Executive Coaching Engagement Look Like?
No two coaches will have the same kind of coaching session. A lot of aspects from a coach's professional experience, coach training, and personality will determine how their sessions are structured when coaching clients.
However, there are elements that most coaching sessions should have, for example:
Discovery Period
The first one or two sessions will be a discovery period in which you and the coach decide if you will be a good fit and where your coaching journey will take you.
To plan a coaching plan for you, your coach will ask many questions to get a feel of what type of person you are, what your goals are, where your strengths and weaknesses lie, and where your priorities are at.
A Preferred Coaching Model
A coach’s coaching style and coaching session are largely influenced by their preferred coaching model.
Sometimes taught in their coach training, a coaching model is the process of how a coach will get from point A (where you are) to point B (where you want to be).
Some coaches create coaching models of their own, while others use models that have worked faultlessly for other coaches for decades.
A Lot of Talking and Listening
For effective brainstorming and strategizing to take place, there should be a lot of two-way communication happening.
However, the client should take the lead, directing the conversation and session wherever their needs are at.
Bottom Line
The pressure is tougher than ever; on top of staying afloat in this hectic professional atmosphere, you also need to lead with a strong and clear head on your shoulders.
While you probably went to school to learn about your field and pick up the skills necessary for that profession—nobody taught you how to be an effective leader.
Every modern leader needs a coach to come in and fill in the fundamental leadership blanks individuals like you struggle to conceptualize.
