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Executive Coaching: Fad or Fixture?

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Interested to hear peoples views as to whether executive coaching really is a fad or is becoming an established part of approaches to learning and development.
Amechi Udo

3 Responses

  1. Fact or Fancy?
    Hi

    What do *you* mean by “executive coaching”?

    There’s plenty of “coaching” going on, but whether any two “coaches” are doing the same thing is anyone’s guess.

    It would be helpful if there were some kind of standards available, but in my experience a good many people involved in setting such standards are either more interested in empire building, or don’t know enough to find their way out of a paper bag, let alone set standards.

    I suspect that a fair number of people will go on doing what they were already doing before coaching in business, including “executive coaching” became flavour of the month. And that many more will either fade away or jump on the next passing bandwagon.

    In short, IMO there is a genuine need for good executive coaching, but after its original successes I suspect that it will end up, for many executives and many companies, as just another missed opportunity/fad.

    Be well

    Andy B.

  2. Early days
    Often at the senior levels, people work in isolation. Not only that, they are expected to display role-model behaviour, and often their activities are greatly different than those at which they excelled in order to gain promotion to the heady heights.

    With all this in mind, executive coaching – when delivered properly by coaches with real business experience as well as coaching abilities – has a strong part to play in the performance of the top echelon in many organisations.

    While I would stop a LONG way short of saying that executive coaching is a panacea for all ills, I would say it has (in our experiences) a proven track record amongst our clients in helping them to adapt and develop. Which in the past was rarely available as an “off-the-shelf” solution.

    I believe it is still in the early stages of adoption and will evolve during the next 2 – 3 years.

  3. exec coaching – fad, fraud or the real thing?
    Amechi, exec coaching is becoming more widespread. Look at surveys questions on development methods from Training Zone or the CIPD over the last few years. My experience in being coached and in coaching helps me conclude that it can be very useful.

    But, of course, there are good and poor coaching sessions, and plenty somewhere in between.

    Why is coaching taking up some of the time more traditionally occupied by training? Several reasons for this, but the main one is that too often training doesn’t lead to sustainable change. It’s ineffective.

    Good coaches will always be in demand. How to decide who’s good? Ask for a free coaching session, then make your mind up.

    Best wishes,

    Rob