How Executive Coaches Help Leaders Radically Transform

Written By Claire Williams
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Two decades ago, most organizational leaders had never even heard of Executive Coaching. Today, those same leaders have made coaching one the most sought-after developmental interventions, second only to “instructor-led training.” In fact, 63% of organizations are currently investing in Executive Coaching, and the field has rapidly ballooned into a $2 billion dollar industry.

Why is coaching such a powerful, in-demand intervention for today’s leaders? In short: because it works.

The International Coach Federation found that a whopping 99% of individuals who worked with a coach were satisfied with the experience, and 96% of them said they’d do it all over again. But the impact goes far beyond client satisfaction. A study conducted by Price Waterhouse Cooper and Association Resource Center found that companies who have invested in Executive Coaching have seen a median ROI of 7 times their initial investment, with over a quarter reporting an ROI of 10 - 49X! 

What makes coaching such a staggeringly effective investment? Unlike many other leadership development solutions, coaching stimulates change at the deepest levels. The purpose of coaching is not to acquire knowledge or build a skill or receive a tool. While those things may happen during a coaching engagement, they are not the secret sauce. Coaching creates transformation by provoking leaders to do their inner work so they can demonstrate the level of outward effectiveness that their teams and business expect.

Einstein said, “We can’t solve problems using the same kind of thinking that created them.” Great coaching elevates the quality of a leader’s thinking, not by imparting brilliance and wisdom from the coach, but by accessing the wisdom and capability within them.  Coaching allows a person to unlock their performance so it can flow from the inside, out.

Let’s get more specific. Here are just a few ways an executive coach elevates a leader’s thinking:

1. Converting complexity into clarity. Leaders face numerous challenges ripe with complexity, often involving (1) other humans and (2) chaotic 21st century business realities. When challenges are complex, development goals are also hard to pin down. Many leaders come to me as a coach and say, “I know something’s not working, but I’m not even sure what to fix.” A great coach helps a leader get clear on their current reality and illuminates a path towards their desired reality. One leader I coached actually drew a winding path, with her goal at the end of it, and wrote down the steps she realized were needed in order to create change. 

2. Listening – truly listening – like no one else can. The need for a coach who can listen to you is not necessitated by the fact that other people in your life are bad listeners. Perhaps some are, and perhaps some aren’t. The primary difference between everyone else who listens to you and your coach is that everyone else has too great a stake in what you are saying. Everyone who cares about you or your performance – bosses, peers, spouses, friends – cannot listen powerfully because they are distracted by their hopes for you. Coaches’ neutrality and non-attachment are a very real superpower – they create a non-judgmental, fully curious space for leaders to think out loud, with no strings attached. And don’t be deceived by the seeming simplicity of “listening.” Coaches devote hours in coach training programs learning how to listen well. It is both a science and an art that a great coach is always working to master.

3. Helping leaders see beneath the surface of an issue. A leader I coached was struggling with micromanagement – he seemed incapable of letting go and trusting others to perform. Rather than give him strategies for empowering team members, I helped him “peek under the hood” and discover what was really driving his micromanaging tendencies. Turns out, a deep fear of failure was leading to controlling behaviors in every aspect of his life. Our coaching focused primarily on releasing this fear, and the natural progression of events as he engaged in that inner work was letting go of his controlling management style.

4.  Resisting the urge to problem-solve. In the example above, had I jumped right into fix-it mode, the client’s change would have gone about one inch deep. Instead, I helped the client move into discovery mode, and that’s where the magic happened. In order to help clients resist the urge to analyze their way to a solution, coaches use several techniques to get them thinking more expansively. For example, a great coach might invite their client to access their creative brain by describing their reality in images rather than words. Alternately, a coach might challenge their client to tune into their body and emotions rather than staying locked in their heads. Only after a client has understood the problem in newer, truer ways are they positioned to “solve” their challenge.

5.  Equipping leaders to become astute observers of SELF. The “SELF” is the primary instrument of leadership, and the vast majority of leaders are not attending to this SELF. They aren’t aware of who they really are, nor of their true impact on others. Coaching changes that by giving leaders awareness and tools for observing themselves in action. Leaders gain objective distance from their triggers and patterns, learn how to “catch themselves in the act,” and course-correct in real time.  

6. Asking the questions no one else is asking. Here are just a few powerful questions that my own coaches have asked me throughout the years:

  • “How are you creating your own suffering?”

  • “What are you protecting?”

  • “What might you have to let go of?”

These stark and striking questions have flat-out changed my life, and now I use them with my own clients.  Great coaches have a way of getting you to think deeper and better about the issue at hand. 

7.  Giving leaders space to practice, fail, and get better. Coaching isn’t all talk. It involves movement, action, and “do it now” moments for clients to practice the behavioral changes they’re seeking. For example, one leader I worked with struggled to make regular eye contact while speaking, which undermined his ability to connect with others. Our sessions were the perfect space to invite him out of his comfort zone, tune into his non-verbals, and increase his comfort level with eye contact. A great coach will give a leader a safe space to practice, help them glean insights through the practice, and then partner with them to plan the real thing.  

If you’re intrigued by the coaching interactions described in this article, don’t take our word for it! Experience the power of coaching for yourself or allow us to help the people in your organization who would value this approach to leadership development. Contact The People Side to get connected to one of our Executive Coaches and learn more.

Claire Williams https://www.thepeopleside.com/our-team/claire-williams
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