The value proposition for executive coaching: could you or your direct reports use coaching? An executive search consultant reviews this popular leadership development tool and offers observations about its value for today's executives.

• Author: Reeves, William B.
• Position: Personal development

Executive coaching is a reality in the C-suite of most American companies. Instead of simply challenging senior leaders to be more effective, many progressive companies offer coaching as a tool to enhance a variety of skills that are deficient within their executive team. Coaching is not a remedial tool to help failing executives or to solve serious behavioral problems; rather, it is seen as a way in which CEOs, chairmen--and other senior leaders for whom traditional organizational training is no longer relevant--can continue to develop and become more effective.

Today's business leaders need a wide range of skills in the areas of leadership, management, finance, communications and negotiation. Financial executives, in particular, need to be well skilled at communicating highly technical and complex matters to constituents, internal and external, in a way that can be clearly understood. Coaches often provide an objective sounding board and help financial executives learn how to simplify and explain complicated data in an easily understood way. The result is that these enlightened executives become more effective and more highly valued in their organizations.

Coaching vs. Mentoring

Before discussing the concept of coaching, it is important to distinguish it from mentoring, since the two are often confused. Both coaching and mentoring offer a one-on-one relationship, but that's where the similarity ends. Usually, a mentor is a more experienced and qualified person who is senior in an organization or industry. This person shares his or her experience and knowledge, and can open doors to opportunities for the mentee that may otherwise have been unavailable. The mentoring relationship tends to be directive, with the mentor telling or showing the mentee what to do and how to do it.

While mentoring provides tremendous value to senior executives, coaching provides different benefits. A coach doesn't necessarily have industry or functional experience relevant to the executive, but uses his or her professional skills to help an executive achieve his or her goals. The coach serves as a confidential sounding board and creates a safe environment for self-exploration, leading ultimately to self-awareness and self-improvement.

Who Benefits from Coaching?

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