CEOs, whose every misstep can be murder on their companies' stock, usually speak in corporate jargon lifted directly from the annual report. Get a moment alone with them, and they'll often purge their personal narratives of anything that doesn't show them off as shrewd or heroic.
At a time when some CEOs are busy choosing defense lawyers, using a coach to rehab behavior may seem a low priority. Many believe such help is key to developing a company culture in which CEOs encourage people to tell the truth and, as management expert and author James C. Collins puts it, "conduct autopsies without blame." Stockholders and employees alike, they argue, should be glad of the self-aware, ever-improving CEO. He's likely to be the opposite of the narcissist who perverts the rules in the name of profit worship and crushes anyone who dares criticize his moves.
Plenty of CEOs are interpersonal disasters. Ask board members, and they'll tell you: CEOs get hired for their skills but fired for their personalities. That's one reason why some of the most powerful CEOs of some of the biggest global companies have been relying more and more on these new high priests of corporate survival.
During the boom years, many companies hired scads of coaches--who often didn't have a clue about the firms' overall strategies--to work with managers. To be assigned a coach was to be seen as an up-and-comer. But coaching at the uppermost levels remains a hidden sanctum, with many CEOs availing themselves of the services in total secrecy. They fear that being seen as depending on a coach will make them seem weak--or worse, incompetent. But lately, even boards of directors are insisting on them.
Coaches are distinct from management consultants, who specialize in the operational and strategic realm. The coach's arena is one of interpersonal relations, office politics, and corporate culture. Relying on their backgrounds in both business and psychology, they perform interventions on dysfunctional teams, confront bullies who hijack meetings, and counsel CEOs on wielding their power more effectively--teaching them to inspire and influence rather than command and control.
Sometimes, coaches interview a CEO's family and friends to draw a fuller personality portrait--or to crack open an executive's denial about his own behavior. One senior leader, on the verge of chiefdom at a top-tier financial-services company, couldn't believe that he was coming across as untrustworthy--until his coach read transcripts of interviews with his friends saying they thought he would "stab his own mother in the back." If deeper problems in the CEO's life are uncovered, companies sometimes provide marital counseling and child therapy to help the executive cope. "CEOs realize they need to be the world-class athletes of business," says Bain CEO John Donahoe. "And contrary to being a sign of weakness, it's now perceived as a strength if people are getting help and investing in themselves."
Can coaching actually fix all that? It depends upon the talents of the coach as well as the ability of the CEO to change. The reigning alternative is the $10 billion a year Corporate America lavishes on leadership training. Studies show that the benefits of this seminar-heavy schooling usually vanish within a few months. But research from Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management shows that the impact of coaching-like training can last seven years. The emotional-intelligence skills coaches specialize in help CEOs create more productive cultures, which in turn drive up profits, according to Daniel Goleman, Annie McKee, and Richard Boyatzis in their book, Primal Leadership. Premier coaches--like good therapists or sponsors in 12-step programs--hold people accountable for sticking with new behavior. Says Goleman: "Without a coach, a lot of CEOs are likely to give up."
Now, as the era of the imperial CEO draws to a dramatic and painful close, CEOs are relying on these corporate consiglieri even more.
Source: BusinessWeek, November 11, 2002
Here are some of links on leadership issues:
Why do 40% of New Leaders Fail - They fail for a few common reasons.
CEOleadershipcoaching.com - Leadership Onboarding Coaching & What makes a good executive and business coach.
CoachedtoSuccess.com - Why do you need a coach?
Leadership401.com - Typical personal and corporate coaching plans and costs
GlassCeilingTips.com - Articles about breaking through the glass ceiling
The-Leadership-Blog.com - A series of leadership tip postings.