Executive Coaching - A Guide For The HR Professional.pdf

72 EXECUTIVE COACHING
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Helping your clients select the “right” coach will have
enormous benefits for your clients, your organization, and
your reputation as a valuable professional. You have a golden
opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding
of the best questions to ask in coach selection (see Chapter
3). Having to choose among options allows the client to
rely a bit on “chemistry” or “intuition,” which will enhance
decision making and make it more likely that there will be a
good match between the coach and the client.
3. Arrange for clear contractual relationships—not always a
written contract, but there has to be at least some discussion.
It is always wise to set up a written contract that specifies
the terms of the coaching engagement. However, even with a
written contract in place, there is no substitute for the personal
interactions and discussions that can occur between you
and the coach. There are many good reasons for you to
become better acquainted with the coach to assist you in the
kinds of decisions you will need to make regarding the coaching
assignment.
If, for some reason, a written contract does not exist, then
having an understanding of the expectations and knowledge
base of the coach becomes even more important. It is important
to hold periodic conversations with the coach regarding
the progress of the client, next steps in the process,
organizational expectations for the client, and anything
else that might impact the coaching assignment.
4. Help connect the coaching to important business objectives.
For the coaching to be truly effective, both for the individual
and for the organization, the rationale for the coaching has to
be linked to business objectives. What are the business results
that the client must achieve? What are the skills, abilities,
and behaviors that the client must demonstrate in order to
achieve these business results?