This paper examines the purpose of organizational and executive coaching through a comparison of past and enhanced views. The author begins by outlining initial perspectives on coaching—including talent development, behavioral change, and accelerating leadership success—before expanding these views through engagement with key texts by Goldsmith and Lyons, Flaherty, Peltier, and Hudson. Enhanced views address coaching for skills, executive self-correction, just-in-time learning, employee retention, management support, and change management. The paper concludes by contrasting initial and current understandings, noting both areas of continuity and important refinements, particularly regarding the development of entirely new leadership competencies rather than merely enhancing existing ones.
In the recent past, organizational and executive coaching has continued to gain popularity as firms seek to enhance the ability of leaders and executives to achieve both organizational and professional goals. The growing popularity of executive coaching is also rooted, in part, in the critical role that organizational and executive coaches play in developing leaders within their current job settings. This paper describes past views regarding the purpose of organizational and executive coaches, highlights current views on that purpose based on ideas drawn from various sources, and concludes by comparing and contrasting the initial and enhanced views on the purpose of executive coaching.
Although the popularity of executive and organizational coaching has been on the rise in recent years, it cannot be considered an entirely new phenomenon. Prior to developing a more nuanced understanding of the field, the purpose of executive coaching was viewed primarily as critical to the development of talent in an organizational setting. The opinion held was that executive coaching was instrumental in enhancing the existing skills and leadership capabilities of executives — a development deemed necessary as organizations sought to build their effectiveness and that of their employees using a wide range of coaching approaches and assessment tools.
A second perceived purpose of executive and organizational coaching was spearheading organizational and behavioral change. The roles of an executive coach as a change agent were understood to vary considerably. In this context, executive and organizational coaches were seen as involved in the establishment of a coaching culture (where one did not already exist) as well as the broader creation of a learning organization. The purpose of an executive coach as a change agent was thus largely understood as limited to the development of new ways of working and thinking within a given organization.
A third early view held that the purpose of an executive coach revolved around helping leaders accelerate their success. One of the main reasons organizations hired executive coaches, under this view, was to nurture the existing talents and skills of leaders in order to fast-track their development toward personal and organizational fulfillment. Closely related to this was the view that coaches could be relied upon to enhance or facilitate special organizational and personal objectives of executives, including but not limited to team building, performance management, communication skills — both professional and interpersonal — and career transition.
Based on a variety of readings on the subject, the understanding and view of executive and organizational coaching and its purpose has been greatly reinforced. According to Goldsmith and Lyons (2006, p. 95), "today's successful executives must embrace self-development and learning." It is becoming increasingly difficult for executives to apply old approaches to new problems facing businesses — partly due to the dynamic nature of modern business. Therefore, executives must find ways of responding to pressures and new trends in their respective work situations. To meet these various organizational needs, modern executives are increasingly embracing learning and self-development. The purpose of coaching in this regard involves the development of executive skills and knowledge in a way that helps concerned executives handle emerging situations more professionally and proactively, given today's highly dynamic business environment.
Hence, one of the central purposes of coaching remains the development of skills and other competencies. This is the approach Peltier (2010, p. 348) describes as "coaching for skills." In his view, coaching for skills is typically triggered when there is a perceived deficit in certain skills. Such skills may include time management, personal organization, and interpersonal skills development, among others. When the purpose of coaching is the development or enhancement of particular skills, the coaching process comes to an end "when the executive learns the skill" (Peltier, 2010, p. 349).
Closely related to this is what Flaherty (2010, p. 3) calls the "self-correction" product of coaching. Here, the purpose of coaching centers on the empowerment of clients. In Flaherty's view, clients who are well coached can easily identify when their actual outcomes deviate from desired outcomes and can institute corrective measures or adjustments without continued intervention from the coach. When the purpose of coaching is the empowerment of clients, the coach should concentrate on building client competency and should therefore not make themselves indispensable.
According to Goldsmith and Lyons (2006, p. 95), "coaching allows executives to learn while at work, while keeping up the pace." Though learning and skills development are critically important undertakings, they can in some instances be resource-intensive and time-consuming if not pursued on the job. As Goldsmith and Lyons (2006) note, today's fast-paced organizational climate makes it difficult for leaders to embrace learning as an entirely separate undertaking. While executives may need to spend some time off-site polishing their technical knowledge, the authors argue that "leadership skills are best learned in the workplace and on the job" (Goldsmith and Lyons, 2006, p. 95). In this way, coaching is particularly valuable when seeking to apply learning to immediate work situations — what Goldsmith and Lyons (2006, p. 95) refer to as "just-in-time teaching of skills." Coaching thus fulfills a critical purpose of allowing executives and leaders to develop new skills and capabilities while continuing to work.
Yet another role of coaching is the provision of management or executive support. A coach may be of great help when a leader needs assistance in making decisions or formulating policies. Peltier (2010) notes that, given the ongoing nature of such an arrangement, the coach may be required to be available on either an as-needed or a regular basis. In such a context, the coach may be regarded as both "a sounding board and reality test" (Peltier, 2010, p. 350).
"Coaching as change agent and retention strategy"
"Contrasting past and present coaching perspectives"
Executive coaching is increasingly being viewed as a way of building the capabilities of leaders in pursuit of both organizational and professional goals. With organizations gradually recognizing the importance of learning and skill development in an organizational setting, coaching is expected to play a critical role in organizational transformation going forward.
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