When Executive Coaching Won’t Work

7 things that can go wrong when setting up an executive coaching programme and how to avoid them…

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been asked to find a coach for an assignment that I know just won’t deliver the desired outcome. With this in mind, here are 7 things that, in my experience, can go wrong when setting up a coaching programme.

1. Appointing the wrong type of ‘executive coach’

I still remember my meeting with the HR Director of a global entertainments company. She told me that she would turn to the executive coaches she knew already if she needed to help someone with their presentation skills. When I suggested that, whilst undoubtedly an executive coach would be able to help, a specific presentation skills ‘trainer’ would bring much more knowledge and experience, along with a broader ‘toolkit’, she disagreed.

2. Appointing an ‘OK’ coach

Having a coaching qualification, even an accreditation is not necessarily enough to make a great coach. Neither is the length of time that a coach has coached. Senior level coachees often don’t want just a coach. Time poor leaders under immense pressure want a coach who is an equal, who exudes executive presence, who knows all the theories but can pick out the most relevant one, who is not afraid to offer an opinion (with permission) when it matters. They want a coach who is able to wear a number of different hats – a coach, a mentor, a consultant, a confidante.  A great coach. And those kinds of coaches are not so prevalent. So let’s remember not all executive coaches are the same.

3. Lack of Information

I’ll never forget an assignment where I took a brief from an HR Business Partner about a leader who was, let’s just say, displaying less than favourable behaviours during team meetings. A couple of months down the line that same HRBP called me reporting that the behaviour of said individual had not changed. Concerned, I called the coach. It turns out that during the tri partite meeting before the coaching started, the line manager didn’t mention any issues with the coachees behaviour but instead spoke very positively and suggested support should be given in a number of unrelated areas. And that’s what the coach was working on. Alignment of the coaching objectives is super important, as is a line manager capable of being honest and upfront in a tri partite – otherwise let the HRBP sit in too.

4. No one cares

If no one cares about the outcome of a coaching assignment then it’s more likely to fail. I’m always amazed to hear coaches say how hard it is to get the line manager to attend the initial tri partite or the final review meeting. Wow! It’s like they feel they don’t need to get involved because the coach will sort it! But we are asking experienced leaders to change their ways of working and to move out of their comfort zone and this takes both courage on the part of the coachee, and it takes the encouragement of the line manager to really make the difference and support the transition. If their line manager doesn’t show an interest, doesn’t give opportunities to put their newly learned behaviours into action, doesn’t recognise when they’ve behaved differently – then why would they bother to put the effort in to change?

5. The coachee has no desire to change

Absolutely critical to coaching success is that the coachee must understand why their employer is prepared to invest in coaching for them. They don’t necessarily need to agree with the reasons, but they have to hear them. And then importantly, they need to be prepared to do something about it. Take the example of a Partner in a Magic Law Firm – she had a tendency to bully others especially when under pressure, which was most of the time! She was ‘told’ (never a great start) to work with a coach if she wanted to be a Managing Partner (which she did). Two sessions in, she admitted openly she was “playing the game”. She just needed to ‘complete’ the coaching programme to be promoted. She had no intention of changing her behaviour. Luckily for her and the organisation, she and her coach went on to do some great work together that helped her enormously to handle the politics and pressures she was experiencing.

6. Minds made up already

The coachee needs a fair chance. Sadly I’ve come across a few incidences where coaching is only being offered because the organisation wants to be ‘seen to be supporting the individual’ but actually the decision has already been made to ‘get rid’. It’s so important to have honesty, not least in your relationship with your coaching provider. Of course coaching can be offered to someone as a ‘golden handshake’ – to help them find their next role, to overcome anxieties, to boost their confidence. But the organisation needs to be honest about this upfront – with the coach and the coachee.

7. Expecting Miracles

“Can you help John step up into this bigger role and help him be a better leader. And build his resilience. And work on his communication skills. And boost his confidence and impact. But we’ve only got a budget for three sessions”. Honestly, I’ve heard that a few times. The answer is no coach can achieve this in three sessions. Great coaches are just that, great, but they do not have a magic wand.

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