How do I coach different personalities?  Employees are independent and do things differently.  I would like to know how to get everyone on the same page and buy into our goals…

Dear Coach Alan,

 To maximize a team’s performance, does a leader manage a team by leading the group or manage each individual on the team? Can you motivate a team in its entirety? Or does coaching take place on the individual level in order to have a motivated team?…

Dear Coach Alan,

I would like to have you comment about women and leadership. I had a woman client, CEO of an international company that was bringing a lot of challenges she had to face at work because she was a woman. Do you have something to say to a young executive…

The length of a coaching relationship will depend on its purpose.  Coaching interventions can be episodic or developmental.  Each is described below…

One lesson I learned in writing is that case studies help to illuminate the point the author is trying to convey. This is why I use case studies as illustrations of the points I want to make about coaching. Each case is a real-life example…

To gain and maintain a competitive edge in today’s fast-paced business environment, companies need to continuously improve products, services, and processes. Innovation has become an indispensable strategy toward these improvements…

First, I would like to thank my readers for following my blog about executive coaching.  Every blog post I write forces me to think deeply about how coaching should be practiced.  I undoubtedly get more out of writing my blog posts…

In my last blog, I discussed core values and ethical standards for executive coaching.  In this blog, I will review several ethical conflicts that can arise in a coaching relationship.  I will also offer a way to manage these conflicts to either avoid or minimize their consequences.

Most professional organizations have a code of ethics or conduct that guides members of the profession. The American Psychological Association is an excellent example; the APA publishes ethical principles and a code of conduct that guide its members on appropriate and inappropriate behavior.

Steven Covey made a distinction between the urgent and the important. My experience has been that most executives pay too much attention to the issue of the day and lose focus on what is most important to their company’s success.

Most of the case studies I have presented have occurred in the past.  I rarely describe a current case because the results of coaching may not be clear.  As I have said many times, coaching is a developmental process…

The technical competencies, or “nuts and bolts,” of business are important for an executive coach to understand. However, in order for a coach to be successful, he or she must also possess effective communication skills…

A great deal of attention has been paid to the role of entrepreneurial companies as engines of economic growth.  Studies have shown that most of the job growth in the US is from entrepreneurial companies…

At its core, executive coaching is about growth and change.  Coaches are continuously challenging their coachees to change behavior in order to accomplish meaningful goals…

In addition to coaching leadership and strategy, which were discussed in my previous two blogs, an executive coach needs to understand operations, or how organizations convert human, financial, and material resources into finished products and services…

A major role for top executives is to be a strategic thinker. In order for a coach to properly add value to these executives, he or she must understand various levels of strategy, including how to identify and leverage personal and organizational assets…

In a previous blog, I made the case for why executive coaches need to understand business.  In the next several blogs, I will offer specific areas of business that executive coaches need to be skilled in.

Okay, you have decided you want to be an executive coach. You have business experience, and you have the behavioral skills that are necessary for successful coaching…

No consensus exists on which behavioral attributes are most important for executive coaching.  However, there is little question that possession of certain behavioral attributes, when present, will enhance the effectiveness of coaching…

There is no simple pathway to becoming an executive coach. Unlike other professions, there is no degree program or widely accepted certification process that qualifies a candidate to be an executive coach.