By Malcolm Nicholson (United Kingdom)
Executive Coaching has now moved past the “latest magic for managers” phase into an integral part of the fabric of leadership development. However, sourcing a professional executive coach can be a bewildering process, particularly as there is such a spread of approaches, and “getting it right” is so important to the individuals and the organisation.
What should an executive look for when sourcing an executive coach and what pitfalls should you look out for?
Sourcing Effective Executive Coaches
So where does an executive of a large international company look to find a reputable coach who can be trusted to work with them to achieve their corporate goals, and provide them with the resources needed to navigate their key people through the changes, complexity and paradox to take the company through to the next phase of its development?
The simple truth about executive coaching at present is that many companies have to evolve best practice as they go along. There is insufficient empirical data measuring the effectiveness of various coaching approaches to be able to rely on data alone. Word of mouth from existing client relationships will remain ‘route 1’ for sourcing a coach. If you are lucky enough to know someone who has already worked with an Executive Coaching, then by far the best way is personal referral, part of the selection policy adopted by many organisations
