Executive Coaching - A Guide For The HR Professional.pdf

4 INTRODUCTION
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go directly to the relevant chapter to obtain the information
quickly.
We are aware that every organization uses coaching in its own
way. We present what we believe are generally accepted best practices,
although we know that dozens of variations occur for many
good reasons. We hope that, whatever role you occupy, whether the
HR professional, the client, or the boss, you will discuss with your
colleagues any specific points where this book’s suggestions diverge
from your organization’s practices.
Before moving on, we want to note three things this book does
not try to do:
• We don’t try to teach anyone how to do coaching.
There are shelves full of books already on that topic.
Some of them are listed in the bibliography.
• We don’t address the use of coaching as a component
of supervision. Some writers argue that bosses should
manage by using coaching techniques. They make
some good points, but that’s not what we’re talking
about here. When we use the term “coach,” we mean
someone who does this for a living as a professional,
although in some cases that person may be an internal
employee of the company. Most of the coaches we’re
thinking about are external, either on their own,
in small consulting firms, or in major consulting
organizations.
• We do not attempt to explain how to set up an internal
large-scale coaching program or to integrate coaching
with an established leadership development program.