The Impact Of Coaching In Executive Education

Putting ideas into action! 

- Mark Skinner

As a coach and facilitator working with some premier European business schools at the beginning of this millennium, it was always pleasantly surprising to meet other coaches pioneering their ‘value-added’ services within executive education. At that time business schools were clearly the domain of professors and researchers. As coaches, we were brought in by enlightened clients or forward-thinking leadership faculty. We mostly helped executives interpret their 360 degree feedback or facilitated small groups in simulations or other learning experiences as part of a leadership program, and then helped these individuals make sense of their learnings.

As we fast-forward 16 years, it is now unusual not to find coaches involved in many different ways in most leadership and other executive education programs too. Indeed, many business schools have already grown their own stable of external coaches to work with their executive clients and recently I was even asked to help a US school with the challenges of building up their own coaching pool. Coaching demand has increased to the point that in some schools there is even a role for coach management. This increase in coaching in executive education programs follows a growing acceptance of coaches working closely and successfully with executives in many industries, where you will hear senior people proudly referring to ‘my coach’. This appetite for personal coaching has also matched a trend towards less traditional management hierarchies, leaner organizations, and higher expectations that has reenforced the need for better and different people leadership. This has also led to an increasing demand for faculty specializing in leadership and a corresponding need for coaches to work within their programs. It is kind of a triple-win for clients, faculty, and coaches.