How Can You Be A Better Executive Coach?

Topic: Coaching
Publication: Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice
Article: Hidden in Plain Sight: The Active Ingredients of Executive Coaching
Authors: D.D. McKenna and S.L. Davis
Reviewed by: Samantha Paustian-Underdahl

 Nowadays, executive coaching is a “must-have” for leaders in corporate America and I/O psychologists are not the only professionals filling this need.  With everyone from retired football coaches to former CEOs practicing executive coaching, what is the most effective way to coach?  Is there a single, most effective, way to coach? McKenna and Davis (2009) recommend applying the “active ingredients” commonly seen in effective psychotherapy sessions to executive coaching.  So how can executive coaches, who have little or no training in clinical psychology, apply principles of therapy successfully? The authors believe that the processes of coaching and psychotherapy are quite similar: both attempt to facilitate psychological and behavioral change through the one-on-one relationship between a trained professional and a motivated client.  McKenna and Davis suggest these four factors are the “active ingredients” of successful psychotherapy:

Client/Extra-therapeutic factors - The characteristics of the client and his or her environment outside of therapy account for the greatest differences in therapy outcomes. The authors suggest that clients must be ready and willing to change in order to have a successful coaching experience. The extra-therapeutic factors that affect the quality of development include the client’s work environment (e.g., will he be accountable for making changes?), culture (e.g., will she break unwritten rules by taking a new approach?), and resources. These help the client to apply the changes made in therapy to the workplace. 

The Muddy Waters of Measuring Executive Coaching

Topic: Coaching, Measurement, Training 

Publication: Consulting Psychology Journal
Article: Measuring and Maximizing the Business Impact of Executive Coaching
Author: A. Levenson
Reviewed by: Lit Digger

 Given the amount of money organizations invest in executive coaching programs, it would be refreshing if someone could come up with a reliable and fool-proof way to measure their effectiveness.

Organizations are complex entities, so developing a measurement tool like this would be a notable challenge.  Levenson (2009) explored a dozen coach-coachee pairs to contribute to this ongoing conversation and shed some light on this measurement puzzle.  Given the constraints of the study, Levenson cautioned that we should interpret his findings lightly.

To recap, studies already exist measuring coaching’s effect on:

·      The executive’s actual changes in behavior

·      The degree to which those around the executive perceive increased effectiveness of the executive

·      Changes in what Levenson calls “hard” performance measures (e.g., unit productivity, number of tasks completed, ability to meet goals, etc.)

But how can we measure business impact of executive coaching?  Levenson suggests that we should “start with the organization’s strategy” (p.110).  He recommends that we should determine whether the business impact we care to measure most is strategic or financial.  For example, if a company has a strategic aim to increase sales to a certain demographic group, then the outcome should be designed to target that strategy – not a more distal, less-related financial goal.

Levenson also warns that we should consider the complexity of the executive’s job in relationship to the functioning of the organization.  Take the above sales example for instance.  If the executive’s primary role is to make decisions and cultivate a productive working environment, then he/she may not actually have all that much impact on increasing sales to the target demographic group.  It would be difficult to evaluate the business impact of coaching if the executive’s role has little business impact to begin with.

Levenson reminds us that if other needed training programs or selection systems are being implemented around the time that executive coaching takes place, then you will be much more likely to see organizational changes in the direction desired.  Systemic changes often will have more business impact than executive coaching alone.

Finally, is executive coaching always the answer to our organizational problems?  No!  Levenson cautions that the intervention needed will depend on the issue at hand.  An executive might be better off gaining critical skills from a stretch assignment if the key issue is professional development.  Or if team performance is slacking, perhaps a team building activity would be best.

You’re more likely to see bang for your buck if the interventions you select are targeted appropriately.  Now we just need to figure out how to effectively measure the “bang”.

 Levenson, A. (2009). Measuring and maximizing the business impact of executive coaching. Consulting Psychology Journal, 61 (2), 103-121.

Keeping the Fires Lit

Topic:  Coaching, Leadership, Training            
Publication:  Personnel Psychology
Article: An empirical examination of posttraining on the  job supplements for enhancing the effectiveness of interpersonal skills training.  
Blogger:  Katie Bachman

The nagging question for anyone who has ever led a training session has to be: “Did they get it?”  In the quest to make training more meaningful, researchers in Personnel Psychology evaluated how supplemental training materials given out after the usual training session effected progress.  Managers learning interpersonal skills were put into one of four quasi-experimental groups.  While some received no follow-up to the standard training session, others were given upward feedback (i.e. notes from their subordinates on their progress), a workbook of self-coaching follow-up activities, or both.  Surprise, surprise – participants in the follow-up groups showed more progress with the training.  Also, having both supplemental materials was better than having just self-coaching materials, although those with both or with just feedback had the same level of performance.  That’s pretty good news for trainers.  There certainly are ways to make your message stick a little longer.  It means some extra work past training time, but it may benefit your organization to keep a little fire going under trainees by noting their progress, giving feedback, and providing supplements aimed at helping them achieve their goals.

Tews, M. J., & Tracey, J. B. (2008) An empirical examination of posttraining on-the-job supplements for enhancing the effectiveness of interpersonal skills training. Personnel Psychology, 61, 375-401.