STRATEGYCOACHING 195

my coaching. I’m not against what she wants to do but I don’t think it

requires strategy coaching. It would only be a waste of energy for both

of us.

• A willingness to be thoughtful about ways to change the company.There
  are all kinds of ways to change an organization and the easiest is through
  brute force. Whether the CEO wants to be a butcher or a surgeon is a
  fundamental choice. Being a surgeon requires the kind of training,
  thoughtfulness, and nuanced understanding that coaching can support.


• The maturity to be engaged without being overly involved.The CEO of
  a large company is in a position of great power and inf luence. Once it is
  known that the coach has the CEO’s ear, many will be eager to gain ac-
  cess. The coach must learn the lay of the land and be sensitive to the
  politics of the company, while never, ever getting personally involved.

I have likened my role as coach to the drop of water on the lily leaf. The
water droplet has a distinct identity, and at the same time it is part of the
leaf. A strategy coach must be self-aware enough that he or she can maintain
a distinct identity while fully engaged at an intellectual level. The coach suc-
ceeds by seeing the client succeed while never putting his or her personality
ahead of the players.