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agenda for the custom-designed leadership development strategy and pro-
grams we create.
For t his process to work well, the client has to have some special qualities,
which often work against their natural instincts:
- Let me be the exper t.They have to trust that I’m the expert on leader-
ship development—not them. I’ve found that leadership and leadership
development, is like sex and marketing, that is, everyone thinks they’re
an expert. They have to let me do my job. They have to be willing to let
go ofcontrol, and that is something they aren’t typically used to. We
make a deal: I don’t tell them how to run their company, and they don’t
tell me how to create high-impact leadership development systems and
programs. - Suspend judgment.Many CEOs and other senior executives have to for-
get what they think they know about executive or leadership develop-
ment. Many have a poor schema based on their own experiences. Few
have actually experienced leadership development that was strategic. If
they did happen to have attended a university executive education pro-
gram, it most likely didn’t have anything to do with their company and
therefore has little to no relevance in this context. Moreover, many have
never participated in a well designed, high-impact, customized internal
program that was directly linked to their business strategy and pro-
duced measurable results. - Let go of having all the answers.It’s important for the client to be will-
ing to make herself vulnerable and to be open to learning and admitting
she doesn’t have all the answers. This is important throughout the pro-
cess, but especially after the new leadership development system and
programs are put in place, and when the client is exposed to leaders in
a program or workshop setting. If the CEO acts like she or he knows it
all, then the subtle message is: “ What do they need all this other great
talent for?” They need to be willing to attend the learning events just
like everyone else: as students.
What qualities are crucial for me as a coach? Well, after 20 years in this
line of work, these are the things I believe are most important in order to be
a trusted advisor to top management:
- Deep listening.There is no substitute for really deep listening and for
making it absolutely clear that you’ve heard the client. This can be ac-
complished easily by paraphrasing what you just heard to confirm it, by
asking a question that is based on what you heard, by summar izing your
meeting in writing, and so on.