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50 TOP EXECUTIVE COACHES
still being accountable to the overall system. As companies become further
immersed in the knowledge economy, it will become even clearer that effec-
tive leadership is based more on trust and influence than on power and struc-
ture. When that happens, the contradiction of coaching the whole person in
the context of the narrow demands of work will become less of an issue.
The Beginning of a Great Inventure
In my own career/life coaching, there are two approaches to the work I do.
The first I call “Inventuring,” which is a year-long process of working one on
one with a leader to build their capacity to lead authentically. The second I
call “Repacking Your Bags,” which is a three-month process that offers a sea-
soned perspective on work and retirement transitions. Explaining how these
work will shed light on what career/life coaching aims to do.
Our coaching starts with the core belief that people are born with a purpose.
In fact, our firm’s moniker is “discover your purpose” and I call myself a purpose
coach. The essence of the idea is that people are not fully engaged and authentic
until they begin to operate from their purpose. Both inventuring and repacking
stem from that concept.
Inventuring is based on the belief that people perform better when they act in
harmony with their authentic selves. Aligned with that is our belief in focusing on
strengths rather than weaknesses. In our experience, effective leaders, effective
teams, and effective organizations focus on strengths and manage weaknesses.
Our coaching point of view, therefore, is to help a leader discover purpose and build
on strengths while managing weaknesses.
We begin by creating what I call a leader map. Building the map is an
intensive process of developing a full picture of a person’s authentic
leadership. Together, we define her purpose, vision, values, strengths, and
goals. This provides an inside-out look at the core of who the person is as a
leader, which will eventually reveal how that person will act. Discovering the
“who” comes before working on the “what.”
The leader map is used to help people develop daily practices. Like a
professional athlete, if a leader lacks the discipline of practice, all the talent in
the world will not lead to success. Once the map is designed and the practices
defined, my role becomes similar to that of a personal trainer. I follow up to
make sure the leader is practicing and to figure out what needs to be done
differently should any breakdowns occur.
Repacking Your Bags is a similar process for executives who are trying to
figure out what to do next. Either they ’re in a transition already, or they hope
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