Harvard Business Coaching survey reveals…

Four important questions if you are considering hiring a business or executive coach.

Business coaching has been around for a while now. However lots of executives are just starting to become conscious of exactly what executive coaching is able to offer. This is because while there have been lots of expert coaches with successful track records, there are also a great deal of ‘wanna-be’ coaches out there, so it can be a real case of ‘let the buyer beware.’ There are also a lot of business coaches who don’t have the experience and ‘know how’ you want in a coach.

A Harvard Business Review survey on the executive coaching market has actually disclosed some really interesting data that will help those on the fence make-up their minds about the benefits of executive coaching. Inside this comprehensive survey, many crucial questions were asked. These concerns were created to spell out the right relationship between a coach and the executive they are coaching.
The first question asked was: Do the coach and the executive have reasonable chemistry? If the answer is yes, this will help the pair move on and accomplish their goals. On the other hand if the answer is no, it’s most likely advantageous to search for another coach as a coaching relationship is intimate and the person being coached needs to trust the coach.

Business Coach Melbourne  The second question and one of the most essential ones was: Is the executive extremely motivated to change their leadership style? A ‘yes’ will result in an executive that is willing to get down to business and do the difficult work needed to move forward and become more reliable. However if the response is ‘no’, then it might be due to the fact that the executive is fixed in their ‘being’ and not open to change, which will not produce a rewarding coaching relationship.

The third question asked was: Does the executive have the dedication of his/her leading management? If management is supportive their leader then the coach and the executive can attain terrific things together. However if management is not totally supportive of the leader, there is little point in hiring a coach as it’s unlikely to produce measurable results, and the full potential of the relationship will be stunted. Typically it’s as a direct result of management attempting to push an executive along that coaching is used and it can definitely be an ideal technique for keeping quality staff.
The fourth and final question focuses on the problem of ‘shifting focus’. Lots of respondents who were questioned for this study believed that their coaching focus changed gradually. And this is usually a good idea. When a coach’s focus shifts, many times it’s due to the fact that development has been made. The crucial concern is to make sure that the scope of the coaching work is well recorded, as this guarantees focus is kept and a favorable measurable result is more probable.