122 50 TOPEXECUTIVECOACHES
THOUGHT LEADERS
Noel M. Tichy
Leaders Coaching Leaders
C
oaching is critical to the success of organizations. But organizations do
not win by inviting a small army of external coaches to infiltrate their
ranks or by ceding the coaching function to the internal consultant. Instead,
it is the job of the leader to build coaching capability into the DNA of the or-
ganization. The leader does so by developing his or her own “teachable point
ofview” and cascading that throughout the line. When leaders coach leaders
around that teachable point of view, learning and teaching are continuously
exchanged in a Virtuous Teaching Cycle. This creates alignment and energy
for the organization’s values, vision, and strategy even as it generates the new
leadership necessary for the future.
As a coach, my job is to help the leader develop and cascade his or her
teachable point of view. Many great leaders are able to do this intuitively, but
for those who are leading large companies, the teachable point of view must
be deliberately designed, planned, and built into the social architecture of
the organization. Other wise, its impact will be lost. A look at the 90-day pro-
cess by which that happens will further clarify the role that I feel external
coaches should play.First Month: Build a Senior-Team Teachable
Point of ViewThe process starts with the top leader. A CEO cannot teach from a blank
piece of paper. She needs a teachable point of view that articulates theNo el M. Tichy is Director of the Global Leadership
Partnership at the University of Michigan Business
School. Professor Tichy is the author ofThe Cycle of
Leadership: How Great Leaders Teach Their Organiza-
tions To Win, The Leadership Engine, Control Your
Destiny or Someone Else Will, Globalizing Manage-
ment, and The Transformational Leader.He can be
e-mailed directly at [email protected].