Why It’s Time To Partner With An Executive Coach: Part II

…the right coach becomes an important partner, helping you actualize your fullest potential.

Of course, right is a complex word here. Naturally, people then ask “What is the best type of coaching for me? How do I find the right coach, the right model?” 

Both are exactly the questions that need to be asked given the important commitment that is made when partnering with an executive coach. I spend as much time directing people toward other coaches and paths as I do solidifying next steps with LionPoint. The reality is that for coaching to yield a return on investment a few key factors should be considered: 

• The coaching model and style must match your desired type of support and partnership.

• The individual personalities must connect so that the coaching relationship is founded in safety and trust as well as shared values and mental models.

• The coaching model must align with your business context and individual goals.

To better evaluate the coaching ecosystem, it can be helpful to understand the three general models of coaching — comfort, skill, and clarity — and the business contexts with which they most align. 

For some people, the best way to utilize executive coaching is through a form of “business therapy coaching.” These leaders, more than anything, need a coach to provide validation and confidence in the face of challenges. Comfort-based coaching may be right for leaders who feel “lonely at the top” or are looking primarily for emotional or psychological support for their decisions, or want to process and metabolize a prior leadership or career context.

Others look for “skill coaching” during which a coach shares advice, often from their experience, to direct the leader down a specific path or toward specific goals by enhancing a specific skill set. The focus is on changing the person to add a skill they do not already have. Often skill-based coaches are experts who have previously excelled in a career or skill, or who have a very specific experience that applies to the leader and the stage of the company. For those leaders looking to improve in a targeted area and with the capacity and time horizon to do so, skill-based coaching can be beneficial.

The model that LionPoint uses is “clarity coaching.” Clarity coaching centers on diagnosing and dissecting problems raised by the leader to specifically identify their role in the confusion that is driving the lost productivity. Clarity coaches believe that accomplishing goals occurs by creating the ideal context for the specific leader based on what is learned in the sessions. The results are leader-specific design changes focused on promoting clarity across the leadership, management, and culture dimensions. Leaders of fast-paced, high context-shifting organizations with ambitious, entrepreneurial goals are often most aligned with clarity coaching.

The best way to further bring clarity coaching to life is to borrow the words of a client. Her words speak perfectly to the goals of clarity coaching and what I strive to be for my clients:

[Doug’s] intention in all of our conversations has been to help me reach clarity — and that meant asking always kind but sometimes very direct questions that dissolved all at once a mental block that was holding me back. Doug works to understand his clients in all their complexity and dimensions and is incredibly adept at helping sort through noise and confusion to help us find our true north and real home.

I remain humbled to read these words. But, the largest share of the credit belongs to my client and her humility and reflectiveness, as well as strong desire to diagnose and remedy issues at a rapid pace. Clarity coaching aligns with leaders who possess these attributes, accept personal responsibility before all else, and find themselves in environments that demand constant and rapid team evolution. LionPoint was built to support and coach these exact leaders as they pursue solutions to critical problems.

In reality, there are of course many coaches and styles that do not fit neatly into these three categories. This framework for the executive coaching ecosystem is simply meant to start someone down the path toward discovering why one style might be right for your personality and unique professional context. I recommend you take a moment to reflect on whether your needs will be best met by comfort-based, skill-based, or clarity coaching.

By bringing self-awareness to the framework above, you will be well-prepared to find the right model and coaching personality to help you achieve your goals. Regardless of where you fall, we hope you create the space to connect with coaches in your network about how they can best support you as you lead your organization. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if I can be a sounding board as you navigate the coaching ecosystem.