Executives admit they need help and are getting over “coaching phobia”
Just five years ago if the topic of executive coaching was mentioned at a company meeting, it would likely be swept under the table. Today, with the changing world of work and the many demands placed on leaders, coaches are finding themselves with more and more requests for corporate coaching.
“Canadians are less coaching phobic now. A lot of senior people know they need help because they’ve never worked harder and are having trouble staying ahead,” says Bill Hamilton, an executive coach with Toronto-based Evans Charles Associates, a leadership development consulting firm.
Traditionally, coaching was used for employees with performance problems but that’s not the case anymore. Hamilton says the assignments he gets usually deal with high-potential people, and the coaching is most commonly used as a development tool. In many cases, he coaches staff who are making a career transition, taking on their first managerial jobs.
“That’s what we’re going to see in the next 10 years, highly technical and talented people that don’t know how to lead in a leadership position and need help from a coach,” he says. “You don’t just send them to a four-week program at Queen’s or Western. It’s an ongoing process of counsel, feedback, and trials. Coaching becomes a one-on-one leadership development program.”
However, employees are looking for more than help on the job. Work-life balance and having a meaningful, fulfilling job, as opposed to making lots of money, have become top priorities. More people are looking for intrinsic value in their careers and coaches can help them find it. People are looking for some fundamental answers, Hamilton says.
They’re tired of meeting other people’s expectations and realize they have to take ownership for their own lives. A lot of them are thinking about their careers down the road and are trying to get a grip on what they want the future to look like, he says.
“(Some will say) I’m 47-years-old, but I still have 10 to15 more years of work, what am I going to do that will make me really happy? Is this all there is in my working life?”
This makes sense to Pavla Polcarova, an executive coach and consultant in Vancouver.
“Our personal life meshes with our work. If someone has a great personal life, they will take it into their professional life and vice versa,” she says.
Polcarova got into the coaching business years ago and has witnessed corporate Canada’s attitude change. She sees a bright future ahead for coaching. A large number of coaches have entered the workforce over the last two years, she says. Coaching now has a place in the corporate structure that it didn’t have before.
“Canadians are less coaching phobic now. A lot of senior people know they need help because they’ve never worked harder and are having trouble staying ahead,” says Bill Hamilton, an executive coach with Toronto-based Evans Charles Associates, a leadership development consulting firm.
Traditionally, coaching was used for employees with performance problems but that’s not the case anymore. Hamilton says the assignments he gets usually deal with high-potential people, and the coaching is most commonly used as a development tool. In many cases, he coaches staff who are making a career transition, taking on their first managerial jobs.
“That’s what we’re going to see in the next 10 years, highly technical and talented people that don’t know how to lead in a leadership position and need help from a coach,” he says. “You don’t just send them to a four-week program at Queen’s or Western. It’s an ongoing process of counsel, feedback, and trials. Coaching becomes a one-on-one leadership development program.”
However, employees are looking for more than help on the job. Work-life balance and having a meaningful, fulfilling job, as opposed to making lots of money, have become top priorities. More people are looking for intrinsic value in their careers and coaches can help them find it. People are looking for some fundamental answers, Hamilton says.
They’re tired of meeting other people’s expectations and realize they have to take ownership for their own lives. A lot of them are thinking about their careers down the road and are trying to get a grip on what they want the future to look like, he says.
“(Some will say) I’m 47-years-old, but I still have 10 to15 more years of work, what am I going to do that will make me really happy? Is this all there is in my working life?”
This makes sense to Pavla Polcarova, an executive coach and consultant in Vancouver.
“Our personal life meshes with our work. If someone has a great personal life, they will take it into their professional life and vice versa,” she says.
Polcarova got into the coaching business years ago and has witnessed corporate Canada’s attitude change. She sees a bright future ahead for coaching. A large number of coaches have entered the workforce over the last two years, she says. Coaching now has a place in the corporate structure that it didn’t have before.
