concentrated on people with performance issues. A coach came on board because
a leader ’s personal style had a negative impact on peers and reports, or because
his or her skill set was inadequate—conditions that were leading to career
derailment. Sometimes, the coach was simply a bulletproof way to
communicate bad news about performance before dismissal. Coaching was
often viewed pejoratively as something applied to failing leaders or as a lastditch
effort to salvage a career in which the organization had made a longterm
investment it didn’t want to throw away.
Today, that impression has turned 180 degrees. As the marketplace has become
increasingly competitive and fast-moving, organizations now recognize they must
work with speed and precision to enable key people to achieve critical business
objectives. In response, coaching has embraced a whole new focus: how to
take good people and make them the best they can be, positioning them to work
more effectively and cohesively in their environments, and making the most of
their capabilities. In other words, coaching is now most often applied to top
performers whose leadership and growth potential are highly valued by the
organization.
Performance issues will always arise in any development plan or in any dy-
namic that a leader must work through when trying to execute strategy or
change. However, coaching is not intended to focus on those issues any more
than absolutely necessary. The orientation is always forward, with a focus on
efficiency, effectiveness, and impact. The personal and interpersonal chal-
lenges a coach encounters are no less complex than they were years ago, but
the coach and coachee now work together, with a different kind of urgency
and creative energy, to discover the best solutions to meet the organization’s
objectives.
Selecting the right coach is a challenge. Coaching is an approach, a view-
point, and a technique as much as it is a profession. There are no defined
backgrounds or sets of skills for coaches, just as there are no defined sets of
problems or challenges. The coach is a highly specific resource of knowledge,
expertise, intuition, and experience. He or she brings to the table the ability
to deal with dynamic challenges. Although this dynamic character makes
coaching difficult to codify, it also ensures that a good coach, with the right
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