Executive Coaching…How to Select the Best Option for Your Organization
If there is merit in the “5% Talent Rule” (5% of roles within an organization deliver 95% of the value), what if organizations applied this same rule and invested their executive development resources in 5-10% of the most critical talent and the respective successors?¹
With so many executive coaching options now available to organizations, how does an organization determine which options are best served for their organizational growth needs?
While large coaching platforms have gained in popularity, these are often best served as options for scaling development to a broad employee population and focus on one or two key areas that are individually directed.². Customized executive coaching, however, is strategically targeted, with the organization having a greater vested interest, as the focus of such an investment is commonly geared toward the 5-10% of the most critical roles as well as the respective successors for such roles.
As the above highlights the coaching services, how can an organization apply the same 5-10% rule when evaluating the most effective coaches for this specific need?
Here is a guide that may be useful when aligning coach fit with the needs of an organization.
Linear Thinking Coaches
Focus: Individual skill gap or specific behavior
Approach: Standardized, process-driven
Success Metric: Goal completion or app- generated metric
Impact: Short-term, as more individually focused
Coach Background/Acumen: Although they may have served in previous business and professional roles, they are often early in (executive coaching) career.
Often have recently completed a coach certification program and are seeking to earn needed coaching hours.
May follow a learned process and apply the same process to each coaching situation.
Systemic Strategic Coaches
Focus: Enterprise-wide impact
Approach: Customized and tailored to contextual strategy and organizational environment
Success Metric: Cultural alignment and business growth impact
Impact : Long-term, as changes in the leadership style of high- impact roles can have a ripple effect throughout the organization
Coach Background/Acumen: Seasoned executive coaches with experience at the C-suite level as well as understanding board relations.
Thrive on the complexity of organization and the day-to-day challenges executives face.
Have the capability of identifying organizational patterns and hidden power dynamics.
Sources:
1. McKinsey & Company. 4 Strategies for Linking Talent to Value. April 12, 2018. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organization/our-insights/the-organization-blog/4-strategies-for-linking-talent-to-value?utm_source=chatgpt.com
2. Paragon Leadership. Applying “Talent to Value” to Executive Coaching. Paragon Leadership Insights. https://paragon-lead.com/insights/
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