There is a common misconception among some executives and managers that working with an executive coach is the same thing as seeing a shrink or a psychotherapist. While coaching and psychotherapy surely have some similarities, they are very different in many aspects. To start with, coaching is forward-thinking, whereas therapy is more focused on the past. Whereas the therapist would say “tell me about your childhood,” the coach will often ask “where do you want to go in the future?”
Executive coaching can help leaders identify gaps between where they are and where they need to be in the future, by creating a safe environment in which they see themselves more clearly. As I mentioned in a previous article, the executive coach is a “thought partner” that can help busy executives find the time and space to think deeply about important issues that relate to their present and future. For example, when faced with a specific problem at work, the executive can seek the coach’s help in order to formulate her goals in dealing with that problem, identify the options available to achieve those goals, anticipate and better negotiate the obstacles that might prevent her from reaching the goals, and commit to specific short-term and long-term actions and changes to sustain those goals. Using a well-thought out plan, the coach holds the executive accountable for those actions and changes in the future.
Another major difference between coaching and psychotherapy is that coaching can help leaders improve their performance, achieve more in their current positions, and reach career fulfillment, whereas therapy is more focused on disorders and illness. Therapy aims to bring the individual back to “normal,” whereas coaching aims to take him to excellence.
I don’t have any background in therapy or psychiatry, but I have been a professor at the Department of Health Care Administration at Trinity University for the last 14 years. Since I started in that role, undergraduate and graduate students have come to me for advice about their careers and professional development. Some need help with their interviewing skills whereas others seek clarity with choosing the right administrative residency. Young careerists need direction about transitioning out of their first job, ask for suggestions for dealing with a difficult boss, or need strategies to lead subordinates that are older than them. My approach has always been to listen attentively, ask questions, and provide advice when needed. As it turns out, I had been “coaching” without even realizing it. In the last three years, I started getting involved more formally in executive coaching, mostly because I felt the need to acquire some tools and skills that can enable me to help others in a better way. I became certified in professional executive coaching as well as in emotional intelligence and personality assessments and have been formally coaching many healthcare executives, managers and physicians since.
Psychotherapy has a well-documented track record of effectiveness. But how do we know that coaching works? Numerous studies have examined the effectiveness of executive coaching with predominantly positive results. The findings show that coaching does work in improving the skills and performance of leaders, whether perceived by the leader herself or by others who work with her. For example, in one study, 96% of organizations reported to have seen individual performance improve since coaching was introduced, and 92% reported seeing improvements in leadership and management effectiveness. In another study, coaching contributed to the development of important competencies such as leadership behavior (82%), building teams (41%), and developing staff (36%).
Moreover, the effects of coaching are far-reaching: Coaching can impact individual skills and behavior, team performance, productivity, employee job satisfaction, and some other business deliverable measures. It is reported that 77% of individuals who received coaching indicate that coaching had a significant or very significant impact on at least one of nine business measures, with productivity and employee satisfaction topping the list. It is important to note that coaching is mostly effective when tied to specific objectives that are agreed on by the coach and the leader.
Given these results, it is not surprising that across corporations, coaching sessions have become as routine for executives as strategic planning and budgeting meeting. Coaching is now a $1 billion industry in the U.S. alone with many organizations and hospital systems investing heavily in coaching. Executives around the world have praised the effectiveness of coaching with Bob Nordelli, the CEO of Home Depot famously stating: «I absolutely believe that people, unless coached, never reach their maximum capabilities.» John Russell, the Managing Director at Harley Davidson Europe Ltd, also expressed his amazement at “…the power of the coaching process to draw out the skills or talent that was previously hidden within an individual, and which invariably finds a way to solve a problem previously though unsolvable.»
The take-home point is that coaching is not for people who have mental problems. Rather, it is for leaders who need someone to listen to their inner thoughts, ask them the right questions and push them in the direction to achieve excellence for them and their organizations.
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Dr. Amer Kaissi is a Professional Speaker, Executive Coach and an expert on Leadership, Humility & Ambition, Assuming Positive Intent, Psychological Safety & Accountability, Growth Mindsets & Resilience.
