What is an executive coach?

The history of Executive Coaching only goes back a few decades. As a relatively new field, its definition is still subject to debate and discussion among many interested entities. However, the history of coaching as a concept goes back even further, perhaps even from human history itself.

The first and most important thing we learn when we are little is the art of copying. The child imitates what she sees or hears from her parents and other people around her. This is how we learn to talk, walk, etc. Everything we learn comes from emulating the actions of others and assimilating them as our own.

In the distant past, village elders taught younger skills such as hunting, farming, and cooking, among others. More recently, children have been supported by their parents through observation and instruction. These may have been the first applications of coaching as a concept. Later, coaching became a prominent teaching or Training tool, making waves first in the sports industry and later in other disciplines.

The Executive Coaching Manual: Principles and Guidelines for a Successful Coaching Association, developed by the Executive Coaching Forum, defined Executive Coaching as an experiential and individualized leader development process that develops a leader's ability to achieve organizational goals through short and long term. It takes place through individual and / or group interactions, driven by data from multiple perspectives and based on mutual trust and respect. The organization, an executive, and the executive coach work together to achieve maximum impact.

Following this definition, we can see executive coaching as a three-way relationship composed not only of the executive and the executive coach, but also of the executive's parent organization. These three players work together towards the realization of common goals. This triple structure can also be seen as a hallmark that separates Executive Coaching from other types of coaching.

Executive development is facilitated by a personalized plan specifically designed to leverage your innate strengths and work on known weaknesses and other issues. Learning is fostered through hands-on, on-the-job approaches, rather than didactic teaching methods such as lectures and the like, to promote the development of real skills that can be applied in real-world settings.

Sessions can be individual, which is preferable when working on sensitive or personal issues, or they can be in groups with other executives if it is deemed more beneficial than the previous setup. Group interaction fosters a sense of belonging to a unit and camaraderie, and allows the client to compare and contrast their own position with that of other executives who are in similar programs.

Even as an upstart compared to other fields, recent reports would tell us that Executive Coaching is a billion dollar industry and some countries are experiencing a dramatic increase in its use by companies. This is simply due to the fact that coaching actually produces results. What was considered a stigma (you are such a failure that you need a coach) is now seen as a status symbol (you are so important that you have a coach) as an elite, and other not-so-elitist companies continue to rely more and more on Executive Coaching to increase productivity in your top ranks.