COACHING
LEADERS/BEHAVIORAL COACHING
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responsibility. At the same time, there are always one or two weaknesses that
become increasingly exposed and exaggerated. As a coach, my role is to help
leaders address these strengths that transform themselves into weaknesses
and the weaknesses that now loom larger.
The talented executive, for example, who is seen as too controlling and
hands-on to effectively lead at the enterprise level, may have excelled at more
supervisory levels where demands are more tactical and immediate. Their
poor ability at managing upwards was compensated by superior results. With
a promotion to senior levels, this weakness becomes problematic as bosses
may be geographically removed and political networking becomes a require-
ment of the executive suite. Coaching is often critical to help individuals
manage these transitions. It is about changing behaviors in line
with the lead-
ership demands of a role and the needs of the organization.
The people I coach usually come to me because they are not as effective as
they feel they should be in their leadership roles. Since my expertise relates to
leadership style, interpersonal behavior, and communications, my coaching
falls into a fairly broad range. Nevertheless, it focuses on behaviors and style
rather than on strategic thinking, functional expertise, or technical skill.
The First Meeting
At the initial meeting with the client, I begin with a set of open-ended ques-
tions about the executive’s perceptions of her own strengths and gaps; then I
get her to rank order her development needs by priority. I ask her to gauge
which will be the more difficult to change
and why. I also lay out an informal
contract of what the coaching process will entail and how it will likely unfold.
I see the first meeting as an opportunity for both coach and client to make
a set of personal assessments. Am I the right coach for the
person, and is this
the right client for me? I don’t use the word “chemistry ” to describe this de-
termination, but there is an evaluation of fit going on. For my part, I’m gaug-
ing the person’s motivation level, whether she really understands the areas
around which she needs development help and how perceptive she is about
herself. I test how receptive she is by sharing some initial impressions I have
of her. I provide her with a few scenarios and ask how she would respond in
those situations. From
these, I can gauge her versatility and thoughtfulness.
I’m looking, ideally, for someone who is open, reflective, curious, and moti-
vated. If we don’t engage in that kind of discussion I won’t get a full picture.
We may end up working on issues that don’t really hit the mark.
I pay a lot of attention to the voice tone and the body language in this
interview. Obviously, I need to be physically present to do that sort of
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