Val Williams
It was great to read the transcript. I was most surprised that if I was asked the same questions, my own answers would be very similar 13 years later. My comments:
What has stayed the same in the field of organizational coaching over the past 13 years? What has stayed the same is that Executive Coaches still have to help executives think beyond today. We can’t just support an executive’s current work. Our value is in challenging executive leaders on how they are preparing for the future. As coaches, we are that voice reminding executives to look years ahead of an ever-changing business environment. The questions we ask about the future are critical.
What also has not changed, is the need to coach even senior executive leaders on the absolute requirement of being real with people. So many organizational problems have as their root cause: Missing Conversations. These are the tough conversations that leaders need to have with peers, their team and their stakeholders, which they sometimes avoid. Executive Coaching still offers tremendous value in helping organizations identify Missing Conversations and develop the leadership skills to have those conversations.
What also has not changed—and maybe is even more valuable today—is that Executive Coaching still provides that safe confidential place where executive leaders can work out their vulnerabilities, their fears, and their concerns with a thought partner focused on solutions. Executives highly appreciate that in today’s even more complex fast=moving world. So, senior executives are still the same types of customers in many ways. They want executive coaching to result in their leadership capabilities improving in practical ways that can be seen in their daily jobs, and tied, however indirectly, to the organization’s success.
What has changed in the field over the past 13 years? What I feel has changed is the greater focus on ROI for executive coaching. Today it is essential to have the ROI conversation upfront before the coaching even begins. Now that conversation is used as a criterion for even investing in a leader’s development. We still often lack formal measures; but the conversations are robust around outcomes for coaching.
Another change is a build on what I said on the past panel. It is now much more important for Executive Coaches to be bold, to have their own vision for organizations. The practical reason for this is to stand out in a crowded marketplace of people who all want to call themselves coaches. But the bigger reason is because organizations really need help. Organizations are often floundering today with the stiff competition, global pressures, limited resources etc. As Executive Coaches, we can help organizations focus on vision and engaging people to commit to those visions. I believe this so strongly that my own executive coaching business now focuses on what I call: “The Art of Beneficial Impact.” I specifically focus on the art and mastery that it takes to make significant impact at the senior executive levels. And it’s not just about great impact. It’s about a leader’s impact being beneficial to the organization, to the people they lead, to themselves and to the world.
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