160 50 TOPEXECUTIVECOACHES
to understand who the person is, what his or her personality is all about, and
how that affects the role that the person is in—and vice versa.
The first thing I do is help the client understand the priorities of the de-
mands he or she faces. Together, we look at the bigger picture in terms of the
external env ironment. Depending on the client’s job, the external environ-
ment may be the corporation itself. From there, we go to mission and strat-
egy, then to culture and leadership. On an individual level, we start with
goals, then go to roles and responsibilities, procedures and relationships,
until we understand the context of the client’s position in line with objec-
tives and strategies.
A client who is driving change may find him or herself in a strange posi-
tion within the organization. Although the CEO may designate that person
with power, formal authority does not necessarily come with the job. The
role of change agent may demand that he or she functions in new ways as a
politician and persuader in lining up other executives to back the cause.
Other people find themselves dealing with formal roles that have changed
because of larger organizational changes or even a change in customer. Still
others may need to bolster their position and organize their team and re-
sources to do their job well. The job of coach is to help those people sort out
these multiple demands and determine the part they play, while keeping in
mind the change strategy of the organization.
Along the way, I seize moments to teach. I don’t call it teaching, but I do
believe that a good teacher is a coach and a good coach is a teacher. If there
are issues we encounter that can be dealt with more effectively, I take just a
few minutes to explain something or tell a story that the person can use as a
concept, framework, or model to think through a problem and alleviate some
ofthe pressure.
It’s important to be able to listen. Although that may be a given for a
coach, it is certainly not sufficient for success, and is an absolute necessity to
be able to do well. Empathy is part of that. Can I put myself in another per-
son’s shoes? When I work with someone, I am always asking him or her,
“ What are the pressures you are experiencing? What are the forces that are
coming in on you?” These pressures and forces could be coming from the
boss, the customers or internal clients, for example. I want the person I am
working with to describe to me what that is like, and how he or she feels
about it. Doing so helps me open the client up and understand their perspec-
tive, and gives me important information and a feel for what it is they are
going through.
I try to establish a personal relationship with the client. Being a psycholo-
gist is helpful in that regard. I rely on therapeutic techniques to assist with