Selecting your Executive Coach

I've seen and been a part of a variety of coach selection processes in the past several years.  I've also been on both sides of the selection process - picking an executive coach for myself and being selected by others to be their executive coach.  What I have experienced is that the processes - and the quality thereof - are as varied as the individuals and organizations involved.

If you are like most leaders I have worked with your understanding of executive coaching is pretty basic.  You are not quite sure what coaching is and sometimes you are not quite clear on what you want to achieve by engaging an executive coach.  Some of the most common reasons that I experience in individuals looking for a coach is that they are trying to overcome some personal or professional challenges (e.g., it's lonely at the top, barriers to professional advancement) or their organization is supporting coaching for their leaders.

Regardless of motivation or understanding, the next crucial step is trying to figure out how to select an executive coach that is right for you.  In my opinion, this is an effort that requires as much time, thought and process as we put into hiring any staff member, contractor, architect, or other professional resource.  I say that with a thought that all such other processes in your organization are approached with due vigor and diligence.  In many respects, there should be even more effort and structure to selecting an executive coach as what's at stake is your leadership effectiveness.  And in my opinion without effective leadership all other resources in an organization are vastly underutilized or even squandered.

So how can you maximize the opportunity available to you by getting access to and support of an executive coach?  How can you ensure that you choose the right coach for you?  Here are my top  factors and processes - not necessarily listed in order of importance - in making your best executive coach selection decision:

Number One:  get access to some form of bio or resume for a variety of coaches.  Get a sense of who they are and their track record.  Approach this just as you would any other recruitment process.  You are hoping to have a number of options to select from and to do that you need more than a few examples to choose from.  Your decision may even be informed by the multitude of samples and approaches you see coaches taking in responding to your requirements.

Number Two:  just like in any other recruiting process, try to gain some clarity for yourself in what you want an executive coach to do with and for you.  By way of analogy, it's a pretty tall and incongruous order to go looking for a Chief Financial Officer or IT Director if you have no idea what tasks you want them to focus on or what education and skills you need them to have.  The same holds true when selecting your executive coach.

Number Three:  following from above, make sure that the executive coaches that present themselves for your consideration are in fact qualified - by education and experience - to provide the requisite level of service that you are looking for.  I'll demonstrate my bias here in that I believe that qualified coaches are graduates of a program that establishes them as Certified Executive Coaches (CEC), are active members of the International Coach Federation, and tangibly demonstrate a commitment to advancing their coaching acumen.  They are well-trained and have an excellent track record.

Number Four:  get references from their current or past coaching clients.  If they have been able to have positive impact on others it's quite likely that these other clients will be more than willing to speak about their experience with you.  If the coach in question is on LinkedIn, look for endorsements and testimonials from their clients.

Number Five:  take the time to interview at least two to three prospective coaches.  Ask them your key questions.  Ask them to describe in detail their coaching process.  Ask them to describe in detail their successes and their failures (e.g., toughest assignment, learnings, whether they have been fired from a coaching engagement).  Ask them how they stay current in their coaching practice. This is a critical selection decision for you - take the time to get this decision right!  Make this a true and effective interview.  Don't speed-date your way to a decision.

While selecting your executive coach is a very personal decision one tactic that I have seen work well is some form of panel interview or input.  I remember one client in particular who involved a number of his direct reports in the selection process.  We do this in any other number of recruiting and selection processes so why not with an executive coach? 

Number Six:  be wary of coaches who over-promise or offer to solve your problems.  While you are definitely looking for confident and competent coaches with a track record of helping clients to identify, clarify and address your challenges, be clear for yourself that it is YOU who sets the agenda for the engagement, you are the one true agent of change, and you have the power and expertise to set your future direction.  In my opinion, if you are feeling that you are getting the hard sell than it's time to walk away from that engagement. 

Number Seven:  consider this an investment in your personal and professional leadership.  What is that worth to you?  What is it worth to your organization?  It may appear more than a bit self-serving on my part, but be wary of coaches who offer bargain-basement coaching rates.  While price is never a guarantee of quality (see other points in this list) it should give you pause to consider what you might be signing up for.  There may be a reason you can get coaching for less than the going rate.

Number Eight:  connection, connection, connection.  Despite whatever skills, qualifications, and references any coach might have, if you don't feel a connection to a particular coach I'd suggest not contracting their services.  This is an individual that you are going to have to feel completely comfortable in revealing all of your fears, anxieties and challenges.  You are going to have to be ready with this individual challenging you in each session and during the term of your coaching engagement.  If you don't feel a connection move on to other options.  This is about YOU and no one else.

This is a critical decision for your leadership.  You want the best resource available to you.  Don't settle.  Your executive coach can be one of your best resources in advancing your personal leadership so put in the time and effort into the selection process.  After all, it's about YOUR leadership.
______________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

Short-term gain, Long-term pain...

This past week I had the opportunity to take a literal drive down memory lane and return to my home province for business reasons.  Even though I was born in Saskatchewan I have spent the vast majority of my working life in other parts of Western Canada.  However, this drive gave me the chance to go back to one of the places I had worked in the mid 1990s.  A lot has changed since I left that role - including the fact that the organization that I once led no longer exists.  At the same time, I saw clear evidence of how decisions based on short-term considerations can sometimes have repercussions years and even decades removed from the original situation.  I won't delve into the details of the particular decision but its interesting to note that a choice made in 1993 - 3 years before I took on my former role - is still having a ripple effect 20 years later.  And not in a good way.

Many of us are quite familiar with the phrase "Short-term pain for long-term pain" and there are variety of circumstances in which we look to apply that wisdom.  At a personal level I've often tried to draw some sort of inspiration from that phrase as I tried to lose weight, get in shape, train for an Ironman competition, or put in some extra hours in a senior executive, consultant or coach role.  In like fashion, at an organizational level, we commonly send out similar messages and set similar expectations for our staff - if we make these sacrifices now, or make this extra or challenging effort over the next few weeks and months, it will all be worth it by the end of the year or position us well relative to our competitors or in achieving our strategic objectives.  If only we can endure we will reap our just rewards!

Just as often though it seems we fall from this wisdom in both our personal and professional lives.   We can often come up with quite rational and cogent reasons why we made a particular and suboptimal decision.  We took what was possible versus desirable and made compromises along the way.  We worked to balance relationships against outcomes.  We decided to minimize conflict.  Our political arenas seem rife with this type of pragmatism or realism.  Such a view is certainly abetted by a time frame for vision that at its best tops out at four years.  How often do we hear "it was the best we could accomplish under the circumstances" or "we took a balanced approach to the issues at hand" as justifications are rolled out for the less than optimal achievement.  I'd be naive not to understand that a pragmatic or realistic approach may be necessary in some circumstances.  I'm not convinced, though, that what we see or hear represents a pragmatic or realistic line of reasoning.  Rather, it's seems like we are trying to justify taking the easy way out of a tough situation. And sometimes the best decision is not the easiest one.

As leaders we have to not only be conscious of the implications of our tradeoffs in the short-term but in the long-term as well.  Leaders have to take the long view.  They are uniquely positioned by their role to do so and the organization and its clients have a rightful expectation that the leader will in fact act in their long-term interests.  There is a great weight of responsibility placed upon leaders to not only help their organizations succeed in the short-term (e.g., balance budgets, meet market expectations) but to position for them for long-term success.  At the very least, and to the best of their ability, I believe it is incumbent on leaders to not hamstring their successors by taking the path of least resistance in the short term.  This is particularly so when the leader may not be around to deal with the long-term consequences of today's actions.  It seems somewhat unethical to reap the short-term gain without having to deal with the long-term pain of one's actions. 

This latter statement - taking the short-term gain without having to deal with the long-term pain - was what hit me this past week.  Decisions made by leaders no longer on the scene, for short-term gain, that compromises the ability of a successor organization to deliver on its mandate.  I dealt with those consequences three years after I took on my leadership role, and the leaders of today are continuing to work with the bad hand they have been dealt 20 years later.

It's incumbent on leaders to be practical AND visionary.  To be compassionate AND yet make the hard choices.  It's incumbent on leaders - at every level of an organization - to not only make short-term sacrifices for the future benefit of the organization but also to sometimes forgo some short-term benefits as well.  Don't take the easy way out in lieu of the right way forward.  It's one thing to deal with the consequences of your own decisions.  Its another to leave a future generation of leaders compromised in their ability to lead in the wake you have created.

Short-term pain for long-term gain sure.  Short-term gain leading to long-term pain not so much.

______________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

Breaking Down the Silos

When we work in large organizations - and maybe even ones that are not so large - it seems inevitable that we will bump up against and be frustrated by a variety of internal barriers.  Perhaps most challenging is a silo mentality that builds up within an organization that causes departments and leaders to focus only on their individual goals and objectives often at the expense of the success of the larger enterprise.  To me it seems that this mentality breeds it's own self-fulfilling prophecy - in order for me/my department to "get ahead" I have to look out for number one first and foremost.  Over time, this behavior engenders more of the same from other parts of the organization.  Gradually, but inexorably, we become less trusting and less collaborative with each other working unconsciously (one would hope) to reduce the overall efficiency and effectiveness of our business enterprise.  We also collectively become more and more frustrated and disengaged.

A silo mentality does not just happen.  There is a leadership choice that plays out that gets an organization, its staff and its culture to this point.  Sometimes there can be a very deliberate and Machiavellian rationale to actively establishing such a perspective - competition amongst subordinates or between departments may actually be perceived as positive.  This type of calculation may suggest that competition encourages the cream to rise to the top.  Alternatively, there may be a perspective that if one's subordinates are so busy competing with each other they won't have time to position themselves for the next step up.  In these circumstances a silo mentality is created out of conscious intent.

In contrast, I have worked with leaders who just didn't want to devote the time and energy necessary to preventing or breaking down internal barriers.  In some cases they have take a defeatist attitude to this situation reasoning that in large organizations and by human nature there is must be some inevitable friction and inability to work entirely effectively together - people will be people.  Some leaders take this to an extreme suggesting that use of their time in refereeing disputes, managing conflicts and "babysitting" their leadership team is really beneath their station.  Quite frankly, I'm not sure what they think they are leading when they adopt this attitude.



There are a number of ways to either prevent or actively break down the silos and barriers that hinder organizational effectiveness.  They all require personal time, energy and leadership of the leader and his senior team.  While some leaders might downplay the utility of creating a unified vision for the organization and gaining consensus on key organizational values, I have always believed that The Vision and The Values of the organization were a necessary tool for setting common direction and holding true to that direction.  This helped to set clear guideposts by which performance, decisions and behaviors could be measured and evaluated on an ongoing basis.  To be effective in this regard it's not just a create them and put them on the shelf exercise.  It's effectively, consistently and continuously using the Vision and Values in decision-making.

Once the Vision and the Values are solidly established and understood, it's now time to reconfigure other elements of the organization in that light.  In particular, it's time to reconfigure how department performance is measured and evaluated and how individual performance is rewarded and recognized.  The old adage certainly holds true - both at a departmental and personal level - what gets measured gets managed.  Too often organizations can energetically engage in a comprehensive process to establish the Vision and establish its core Values but then fail to take the specific and concrete steps necessary to reinforce that commitment.  Changing up how departments, teams and individuals are evaluated and rewarded is one of the best - if not the best - way of signalling a need for change, including an emphasis on cross functional work.  Ultimately, there must also be a willingness to take the harshest of steps - termination of employment - if performance and behavior is not to the inherent or explicit standard established in the Vision and Values.

A silo mentality can be prevented and broken down.  Staff and leaders at various levels can have some impact on this by their own individual efforts.  However, there is no substitute for establishing and sustaining a collaborative organizational culture than the engagement of its senior leadership.  A silo mentality is not inevitable.  Leaders who understand and own their role will actively engage in and allow their organizations to reach their full potential.  It's not about about babysitting or refereeing.  It's about leadership. 
______________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

Leadership - It's About YOUR Choice

Just over two weeks ago I marked the second anniversary of my departure from my last senior leadership role.  The experience of February 17, 2012, and the events leading up to this milestone event, were life changing in many respects.  Up to and after that date I had a great deal of time to reflect and contemplate the impact of that event on my career and my life.  At the time, I certainly would not have described this change as one of personal choice.  Looking back, however, it is clear that I had, in fact, certainly set the stage for this change in direction.  In reality, by a series of choices and a commitment to my leadership values and philosophy the die had been cast well before the arrival of my personal D-Day.

It has been my hope that my particular leadership values, philosophy and style have been evident in my blog entries over the past couple of years.  I have taken much from the writings of Dr. Deming, Jim Collins, Kouzes and Posner, Senge, Lencioni, and Covey to name but a few.  I have had the privilege to learn "in the field" from both good and bad leaders.  I have had the opportunity to apply all of this knowledge - sometimes to good effect and sometimes not.  At the end of the day, however, the power to choose how I lead and behave has always been available to me.

In recent weeks I've also had the time to reflect on a couple of different scenarios that reinforced for me the power of choice that we all have in terms of how we lead in our business roles and how we live our personal lives.  First, I reflect on the number of conversations I have had with my staff in general and some managers in particular.  In many of my leadership roles, I often led the development or re-commitment to our organization's mission, vision and values.  Even in smaller groups this could have been in the form of a team charter.  Regardless, it was intended to signal our overarching or mutual commitment to our organization and to each other.  In the process, I would emphasize the binding nature of what the team had created and our obligations to adhere to the standard that WE had set.  As a senior executive and or even CEO in these situations, this put me in the position of having to release people from their management duties when they didn't hold true to their obligations.  By the nature of my role, and my choice to be in that role, I became the final arbitrator of the team charter and values.

What do I recall from these scenarios?  First, I always tried to be clear with the team that we had all had a hand in setting our team vision, goals and values.  Therefore, once established we were all accountable to them.  Second, if we personally could not make or sustain those commitments we had a choice to make - stay in and recommit or move on to another role or organization that suited our personal temperament and objectives.  Finally, in the group setting, I also identified that as leader I might be placed in the position of having to "help someone choose" their new path.  Regrettably, over my 25+ year career in leadership I did have to help more than one person with that choice.  This last act was always a challenging conversation, never relished, but always necessary.

In making these tough personnel choices, I always considered it at least partially an organizational and personal failure.  How did "we" get to the stage where a split - regardless of how amicable it was - was the best option?  What role did the organization or my leadership play in making a situation beyond salvation?  Was the person hired into the wrong role?  Were the expectations for the role unclear?  Were mixed messages sent about what expected performance should look like?  Was there any performance feedback provided at all?  Was there sufficient investment in the individual leader to allow them to be successful or help them adjust to changing expectations?

There may also be times where your leadership style and values just don't fit into the organization.  Maybe they once did but something has changed.  The question becomes for you how important are those personal leadership values for you?  How much are you willing to compromise - if at all - to continue in your current organization?  Whatever answer there is to that question has to come from you and your own sense of self.  Hopefully you do that in the most conscious fashion possible.  The worst outcome may not necessarily be staying in or leaving a leadership role, but rather waking up in a circumstance without any real insight as to how you got there.

So I charge all of you in a leadership role to critically evaluate your leadership, to explicitly identify your core leadership values, and ultimately take a stand for your leadership beliefs when the time comes.  In today's often politically correct world my advice may seem somewhat nonsensical (and even career-limiting) but I would ask you to hold on to your ideals.  It seems to me that we need more idealistic - and perhaps fewer pragmatic - leaders than at any other time.   

I end this particular entry with a poem by Dylan Thomas that was referenced in a movie I watched last night (Dangerous Minds).  The context may be completely different, but it spoke to me about being true to self, holding true to one's ideals, all in an effort to make a real difference in this world of ours.  For me, it was also a call to leadership.  Choose to leader by your values and your terms.  There is a place and an organization calling for your leadership. 

Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. 

Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. 

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. 

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night. 

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. 

And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

______________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.