Executive coaching delivers powerful results that are backed by compelling data: 87% of executives feel that coaching generates a high return on investment, while 72% of respondents to an ICF report appreciate the relationship between coaching and increased employee engagement.
However, all too often, we come across coaches who want to drive meaningful changes with top executives at organisations, but who have found themselves primarily working with mid-management. This limits the scale of influence that a coach can have, and it’s something we want to help change.
“The invisible ceiling”
Many coaches find themselves predominantly engaged in mid-management coaching because they haven't yet built the credibility to engage board-level executives (or they don’t have the confidence in their credibility). This means that coaches can improve middle manager performance, with resulting benefits for them and their teams, but can’t affect substantial cultural change across an organisation.
This can be frustrating for ambitious coaches who seek to inspire positive, lasting change and prove their value as a real force for good in the organisations they work with. These coaches therefore need a different approach and mindset, in order to connect with the major decision-makers instead.
Where board-level coaching can make the difference
Board-level executives often need coaching, because the consequences of underperformance or poor decision-making can be substantial. Boards that aren’t performing struggle to connect with the rest of the organisation, and often find that major risks - whether commercial, reputational or strategic - are often overlooked amid heavy workloads.
The type of coaching delivered needs to be different, too. Instead of focusing on personal skills and how an individual performs in their current role, board-level coaching should be systemic and address cultural and strategic attributes of the organisation as a whole. This means, the entire way in which an organisation operates and works towards its goals can be reshaped, and the coach can have the lasting, profound impact they’re aiming for.
Of course, from the coach’s perspective, there is financial motivation to working with board-level executives, too. A good coach can command a higher price when working at board-level, and will also benefit from additional coaching opportunities throughout the organisation as their reputation grows. All this is important to sustaining a successful coaching business in the long term.
How to build board-level credibility
So how can a coach like you break down those barriers and connect with executives at board level? We’ve found that there are three main ways to do it:
- Professional experience and track record: building a verifiable history of success with leadership, and being able to demonstrate tangible evidence of transforming organisations and other board-level achievements.
- Formal qualifications and credentials: advanced degrees and professional certifications that validate expertise and professional credibility, alongside membership of recognised coaching associations such as The Coaching Circle.
- Rigorous, validated methodologies: the use and development of evidence-based coaching frameworks, such as Dr John Blakey’s Nine Habits of Trust, that are grounded in organisational psychology and that provide strategic depth and quantifiable impact.
Most of this can take a lot of time and effort to achieve by coaches who are going it alone. So if you want to expedite the process, the best way is to align yourself with trusted, expert authorities and build some credibility through association. The Coaching Circle has been designed to help coaches do exactly that, leveraging the expertise and credibility of Dr John Blakey to fast-track the growth of their own executive and board-level coaching businesses.
In summary: becoming a change-maker
For a coach like you to become a true changemaker, it’s essential to build trust with the senior executives you’re coaching. According to Deloitte, 94% of global board members and executives say that trust is an important part of their organisation’s performance.
Building that trust gives you the credibility to drive the positive change in the world that you’re working towards - but that’s only one part of the story. You'll also need to:
- Work tirelessly to support professional and financial growth, and towards making the world a better place
- Adopt transformative coaching philosophies focused around purpose and change
- Align your methods with trusted experts whose gravitas you can rely on
With all of these changes in place, you’ll put yourself in the best possible position to take your coaching business to the next level.
Become a true changemaker in association with The Coaching Circle - discover our membership opportunities here.