Wanna Be a Player? Get a Coach!
by Claire Tristram

World-class athletes know it. So do opera divas. Winners in nearly every profession know that without the right coach, they won't perform at their peak. And now a select number of businesspeople know it, too: as organizations flatten, as production cycles hit hyperspeed, as change becomes a constant, coaches can help you become a better, more nimble business leader.

A traditional mentor -- a veteran executive whose history in an organization runs deep -- is practically an endangered species in the new economy. If your company still has one or two, they're often too overwhelmed with assignments or too stuck in the status quo to be of much help. An executive coach, however, can provide the fresh viewpoint of an experienced outsider.

The ranks of executive coaches include human resources specialists and clinical psychologists, mediation lawyers and outplacement consultants. Usually, they are hired by your company and work on-site for $1,500 to $15,000 a day. Occasionally, you hire them yourself and work with them off-site, in secret.

Executive coaches are not for the meek. They're for people who value unambiguous feedback. If coaches have one thing in common, it's that they are ruthlessly results-oriented. Executive coaching isn't therapy. It's product development, with you as the product.

Sidebar: How to Get the Most from Your Coach

How do you get the most out of a coach? Karen Otazo, formerly a human resources executive at Arco, warns that you're flirting with disaster if you don't prepare your organization before you bring in a coach. If executive coaching is new to your company, it's quite possible that your peers -- and particularly your subordinates - will feel threatened. Sit down with them ahead of time and explain what you're trying to accomplish. Without their cooperation, you risk poor results. Some managers have depoliticized The Coaching process by calling it "training" instead.

For best results, set tangible goals. This isn't the time for stretch goals -- aim for improvements that you know you can achieve. "Most people aren't hitting on even half their cylinders," says Marilyn Moats Kennedy, the author of six books on career management and the "Up the Organization" columnist for Across the Board magazine. "Don't try for 100% improvement -- 15% improvement is the difference between a mediocre player and a star."

When it comes to assessing your performance, ask your coach to be rigorously honest with you. Some are not. Take these sound bites of coaches describing their role: "I just hold the CEO's hand," says one. "I'm like a trusted family friend," says another. Or: "My job is to remind him, 'your greatest strength is that you're you.'" If you get that warm, fuzzy feeling from an executive coach, run! Herman Gyr, who specializes in coaching managers in companies undergoing rapid change, advises that you look for a coach who isn't afraid to criticize. Coaches are best when they push you out of your comfort zone -- and don't let you back in.

Sidebar: My Secret Coach

Some corporate cultures just aren't ready for coaches. Marilyn Moats Kennedy, managing partner of Career Strategies, a Wilmette, Illinois-based consultancy, tells of one manager whose decision to hire a coach turned out to be a professional disaster. His peers were so resentful -- and so obsessed by the fact that he had gotten a coach and they hadn't -- that he lost his clout within the organization. That kind of political fallout is one reason why well over half of Kennedy's clients hire her themselves instead of through their companies, and work with her in secret instead of on the job.

Kennedy usually coaches clients by phone. It takes about three weeks of periodic conversations to solve a typical problem. "I first figure out whether what they say the problem is, really is the problem -- or if they've invented something to wrap around the real problem," she says. "Then we go through alternative scenarios for how they can change."

Off-site coaching makes it clear that you are the client, not your company. It allows you to avoid messy issues like what to do if your goals and the company's goals are in conflict. Hiring your own coach isn't cheap: expect to spend $150 per hour or more. But it could be that a few hours spent with an objective, business-savvy coach is all you need to perform at a higher level.

Will you lose out on valuable insights when your coach can't consult with your colleagues, relying on your input alone? Kennedy doesn't think so. "Working over the phone, I can identify the problem, suggest what can be done, and try suggesting something else if the first thing doesn't work. If you keep moving forward and trying different things, you'll get it right."