NOTE: As of 2022 the Center for Executive Coaching is now accredited with the ICF as a Level 2 Coach Training Organization. The ICF has changed their language and replaced ACTP with Level 2. We were among the first group of coach training programs to receive this accreditation, after a rigorous review by the ICF.

Before you leap into results and answers…

Many students and members of the Center for Executive Coaching, and many executive coaches, make a common mistake when they work with clients: They rush too quickly to answers and supposed results.

It is perfectly acceptable, and in fact necessary, to take as much time as you need to assess a situation with a client before jumping into solutions.

Spend a couple of sessions asking questions to understand the client’s situation, style, biases, and ways of processing information. Are they linear thinkers or more holistic? Do they emphasize the bottom line, relationships, status, technology, or tasks? Are they short-term, medium-term, or long-term focused? Take the time you need to understand what makes your client tick.

At the same time, ask the questions you need to ask in order to understand a situation fully — before jumping to conclusions.

One way to do this is through the process of inquiry, or asking a series of open-ended questions. Questions include: How would you describe the problem? What is it costing you and your organization? What have you tried to fix it? What has worked and what hasn’t? What would be an ideal outcome in this situation? What do you think are the root causes?

Even in inquiry, I find that many coaches hide suggestions with questions. For instance, “Have you tried….?” is really a veiled way to get to solutions.

Be patient. Get to know your client and the situation. Let them know you need a bit of time to do your own assessment. In my experience, clients respect coaches more when the coach insists on taking some time for their own analysis — even if the process takes a bit longer. Plus, you get deeper insights and better results.

Aflac

Amazon

Ancestry

Army Corp of Engineers

Ascension Health

AT&T

Bank of America

Bechtel

Best Buy

Booz Allen

Bose

Bristol-Myers Squibb

Brown University

Capital One

Caterpillar

Charles Schwab & Co.

Children’s Hospital Colorado

Cisco

Citrix

Coca-Cola

Deloitte

Dropbox

Duke Energy

Galveston Independent School District

General Atomics

General Electric

Google

Harvard Business School

Home Depot

Inland Steel

International Red Cross

Johnson and Johnson

Kaiser-Permanente

KPMG

Laser Spine Institute

Lexis Nexis

Liberty Mututal

L’Oreal

Macy’s

Mckinsey Consulting

Merck

Microsoft

MIT

NASA

National Basketball Association (NBA)

Nike

Nissan

Nvidia

Partners Healthcare

Philips

Procter & Gamble

Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC)

Ralph Lauren

Regeneron

Rice University

Ross Stores

Russell Reynolds Associates

Schneider Electric

Shell Oil

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Stryker

The Ohio State University

Tom’s Shoes

United Nations

University of Florida

Unum

UPS

US Air Force

US Army

US Army Medical Corps

US Marines

US Navy

USAID

Valassis

VMWare

Xerox

Zappos

Our featured articles