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Four Essential Ways That Coaching Can Help Executives

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I'm Robert Witherspoon, the lead author of FOUR ESSENTIAL WAYS THAT COACHING
CAN HELP EXECUTIVES (Center for Creative Leadership: 1997), along with
Randall P. White.

OVERVIEW
This is a book presents our early thinking about executive coaching: what it is,
its power in creating positive change, and how coaching can be used by
executives and their organizations. Looking back, it was one of the first
paperbacks to focus on executive coaching as a professional relationship--as
distinct from a managerial function, or what might be called "managerial
coaching" (e.g. as part of a boss's responsibility to develop subordinates,
often in conjunction with an annual performance review). We also focused
specifically on helping successful people change behavior, since most people
we worked with were very successful by any socioeconomic standard. (By
contrast, much had been written about dealing with people with reasonably
dysfunctional behavior--alcoholics, etc.--but these were not our clients.)

THE EARLY THINKING
FOUR ESSENTIAL WAYS began as a series of conversations about executive
coaching by two practicing coaches. Randy and I came from
different traditions. I had founded Performance & Leadership Development
Ltd. (P&L) in 1990 to focus on executive coaching and organization
development consulting. Before then I'd been a partner at Arthur Andersen
with a career in business and consulting. Randy started in private practice
in 1994 after a career at the Center for Creative Leadership, where we'd
first met. He was formerly in charge of executive coaching and customized
programs at CCL, and had published widely on leadership development and
related topics. While we worked separately, we sometimes paused to compare
notes about our respective practices. Over the course of these conversations
we came to spend long hours exploring the purpose of executive coaching--as
expressed by our clients when they sought us out--the roles that coaches
play, and the various situations in which these roles unfold.

When we began these conversations in the early 1990s, coaching was very new
in the executive suite. So clear goals and roles were especially
crucial--both for getting started and for sustained success. (They still are,
although executive coaching has increased dramatically in popularity over
the past decade.) Our executives used coaching for a number of reasons:

* to learn specific skills;
* to improve their effectiveness in a current role;
* to prevent derailment, or to prepare for career moves; or
* to support a larger agenda, such as obtaining better business results.

True, each coaching situation was different. But some distinctions were
essential to recognize, both to establish focus for the coaching
relationship, and to foster informed choice by everyone: the executive (and
possibly family members), the executive's boss, the human resources
representative, and the coach (or coaches) providing the service. So in
writing the book, Randy and I wanted to probe the key distinguishing factors
among the coaching situations we encountered daily in our practices.

SINCE THEN...
FOUR ESSENTIAL WAYS was published in 1997 and has been widely read by
executives, coaches, organization development practitioners, and others. As
a result, the coaching continuum defined there has become a useful working
model for many people in the coaching process. For some readers, the work,
and other recent contributions to the field have fostered a dialogue about
executive coaching and the state of the practice, at research centers such
as the Executive Development Roundtable, professional conferences, and
elsewhere.

Overall, reader reactions to the coaching continuum model have been
positive. Consider these comments from several perspectives.

* Executives in coaching seemed to readily grasp these distinctions and apply
them in coaching conversations. I regularly refer to the different coaching
roles in my work with executives and organizations (e.g. to clarify
expectations and contract for new coaching engagements).

* Some organizations employed the coaching continuum to "prime the pump" for
coaching in their executive populations. One global professional services
firm, for example, gave FOUR ESSENTIAL WAYS to its partners after an elite
leadership development program with these words, "read this, consider which
coaching fits your needs, then let's contract with a coach to help you work
on your agenda over the coming year."

* Other organizations started to use the coaching continuum, and some
or all of the four coaching roles, as a common language to manage both
internal and external coaches for their formal coaching programs for
executives.

* Colleagues in the coaching field have also been positive. One seasoned
coach, for example, said I had helped her to see "the field of coaching in a
much more multi-dimensional way."

* Several researchers have been favorable. One wrote me, "Your...
continuum of roles and distinctions among [each has been] very helpful in
researching coaching."

So far, readers have focused more on the coaching continuum model (the
"what") than a larger practice theory (the "why") for executive coaching.

STAY TUNED
Looking ahead, I hope FOUR ESSENTIAL WAYS, and other contributions to the
field, can continue to foster a dialogue about the roles coaches play. I see
a future where coaching is widely available in organizations, and where
coaching practice is informed by insights from an evolving practice theory
for coaching executives.

I continue to coach, to teach, and to write on these subjects--more recently
in LEADERSHIP COACHING: HOW THE WORLD'S GREATEST COACHES HELP LEADERS TO
LEARN (Jossey-Bass: 2000), edited by Marshall Goldsmith, Laurence Lyons, and
Alyssa Freas. I'm happy to say this book has been hailed by Warren Bennis as
"the single best collection of writers and writings on executive coaching."