Coaching for Leadership Development
In selecting categories, it seemed important to distinguish between coaches
who help leaders become more effective individual leaders, and coaches who
help leaders and organizations develop leaders. Coaches in this category ran the
gamut of activities from helping an organization develop a cadre of leaders who
are great coaches to helping install leadership development programs and
systems that ensure an ongoing pipeline of great leaders. Some of these
coaches play the role of coach as teacher while others played the role of
coach as architect. As opposed to the first two categories, most coaches in
this category were striving to help large numbers of leaders or the entire
organization, not just the individual or team.
Coaching for Organizational Change
This group of coaches focused largely on the execution of organizational
change. They engage in a wide variety of challenges, including the organiza-
tion’s capacity for innovation, its view on strategic diversity, its implementa-
tion of a merger, and its ability to execute a new strategy. The coaches
themselves were defined primarily by the fact that they worked closely with
a number of senior leaders (and their teams) to make the change initiative a
success.
Strategy Coaching
Our strategic coaches worked at the most senior levels, helping top executives
set the tone for the long-term direction of the organization. Some coaches
worked primarily with the CEO, others with the senior team, still others with
“converts” or champions throughout the organization. All mentioned a
commitment to guiding the organization’s quest for its own
future path, rather
than imposing a belief or vision of their own.
As mentioned, the way that coaches fit in categories is far from perfect.
Some coaches fell distinctly into their set areas, while others straddled
different categories in different parts of their practice. Furthermore,
there was a continuum of skills, approaches, and perspectives within each
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