Executive coaching basics

There are many types of executive coaches. My specialty has been working with news editors and other media executives. There are a couple of important things for a person to realize who is considering executive coaching.



First, the coach is not going to tell you what to do. You wouldn't learn anything and wouldn't feel confident to handle problems on your own. The coach will act as a guide and sounding board. He or she will ask you questions aimed at getting you to examine an issue from new angles so that you can try new approaches and find new solutions.



Second, your coach is going to ask you to accept some measure of responsibility for the problems that you're facing at work and to hold yourself accountable. When you do this, when you accept that responsibility, you can begin to get into action to solve the problems. It's up to you.



Third, when you are at a management level, 90 percent of your work is not about the technical parts of the job but about the people. You can change many things about your working environment, but you can't change other people. The good news is that in working with a coach, you can change yourself, what you do and how you do it. You'll find that when you make even small changes in your behavior, especially in how you communicate with other people, they will change in response. As the leader, you have to be the person willing to change first.