External Coach — From Struggling to Unleashing Your Potential
An external coach or consultant can really expedite the performance improvement of individuals, teams, departments and the whole organization. They work with executives, leaders on all levels and individual contributors.
Here I will use the terms coach and consultant loosely.
The value an external coach brings is tremendous. While the book Trillion Dollar Coach is a famous example, it was also heavily researched and ROI in some cases reached 788%. That’s why usually their pay is not hourly, but rather a derivative of the value they are expected to bring.
These performance improvements, which may appear as higher, applicable and more impactful technical skills, business skills, leadership and management skills or interpersonal skills drive the higher performance of the organization, i.e., the success on the market.
Beyond these high-altitude numbers and evident gains, let’s look at additional benefits in more detail.
External coach — benefits for the leader being coached
- Leaders are often lonely and have no one they can consult with.
For example, when expected to have all the answers, dealing with delicate or confidential matters, their manager is too busy or an “absentee manager”. - Leaders are busy with day-to-day, continuing with inertia, entrenched in the details
- They rarely receive timely feedback, thus have blind spots (unknown unknowns)
- In some cases, leaders have no model or framework to support them, like DiSC, the feedback model or other principles to guide them
- Despite having knowledge of a particular technique or framework, leaders might neglect certain things and miss nuances, causing them to be less effective
- An external coach has already done this, they have experience both with the topic at hand and the change management
- An “external” is listened to due to their experience, authority and expertise, while an internal employee often way less (imagine a middle manager trying to influence the CTO)
- An internal employee might be believed to have a hidden agenda or be biased
- An “external” has an objective view, no emotional baggage, no risk of losing political capital or risking relationships
- Leaders have access to a plethora of information, podcasts and books — but which ones to use? Which parts to use? When? How to adapt to the current situation?
- Confidence and emotional support
- Sparring partner
- Accountability partner
External coach — benefits for the organization
- Not on the payroll, no stock options, benefits package or social benefits
- A limited contract, can be easily terminated with no risk
- No dependency on the coach after the contract is over, the practices, learnings, common language and visible improvements are already in place
- A consultant improves and leaves — no need to deal with politics or who gets the corner office
- Can easily extend work — more activities or the same activities with other employees
- Can be called on demand in the future
- Easy to find evidence of their competency, like credentials, publications, testimonials and recommendations
External coach — why not
- An external coach lacks the context. Though many of the principles and tactics are applicable in most situations, not everything is copy-paste and context matters.
To mitigate — on the discovery phase, bring all the relevant information, and verify that both the coach’s proposal and the written objectives cover your expectations and unique situation. - Ego — either self-belief or the perception in some organizations that asking for help is a sign of weakness, rather than a sign of a growth mindset.
- A belief that a consultant is an incompetent worker rather than an experienced force multiplier, as captured in the adage:
Who cannot work, will become a teacher
Who cannot teach, will become a consultant
Who cannot consult will become a politician
Why I coach
While there are many coaches to achieve similar results, each has their own unique approach and strengths. I coach about managerial and technical topics because:
- I genuinely enjoy it
- Passion to fix a problem — most managers were never guided or supported, just imitating their previous ones. This results in opportunity loss due to lack of effectiveness, that is, lower results and retention than could be and a sub-optimal experience for employees on all levels
- Multiply force — spread knowledge learned from various sources and experience from 25 years in the industry in IC and management roles
- My StrengthsFinder includes developing others
- My DiSC profile suggests people orientation with attention to data
- My working geniuses are — Wonder and Enablement — finding potential and supporting others
How to measure success
Success is defined at the beginning of the coaching engagement, by the sponsor (the person who approves and finances) or the coachee (the person being coached).
Measuring the success of an external coach involves evaluating both quantitative and qualitative outcomes.
- Goal achievement: business outcomes — incrementally tracking the progress towards the specific goals, such as OKRs, KPIs, milestones, deadlines, projects completion, revenue, customer satisfaction,
- Behavioral changes: self-assessment and feedback from the manager, peers and direct reports (a.k.a 360) before and after
- Performance metrics: evaluate changes in productivity, such as time management, efficiency, and the ability to delegate effectively.
- Employee satisfaction: survey team morale and engagement levels, analyze turnover rates within the leader’s team or department to identify if there’s a positive impact on retention.
- Return on Investment (ROI): compare the cost of the coaching engagement with the benefits gained, such as increased productivity, improved employee retention, higher profitability or personal gains (promotion, reputation).
- Personal well-being: work-life balance and overall well-being through self-reports and feedback from close associates, as well as stress levels through regular check-ins.
- Testimonies and case studies: collect testimonials and case studies from the leader and other stakeholders about the experience and the impact of the coaching.
- Adaptability and resilience: check in on how well the leader navigated organizational changes, challenges and crises post-coaching.
- Long-term impact: monitor if the positive changes and improvements are sustained over the long term.
Combining these metrics and methods provides a comprehensive view of the coaching’s success, helping to ensure that the investment in coaching delivers meaningful and lasting benefits for both the leader and the organization.
After coaching
While check-ins and updates after the coaching has ended may be beneficial, we want the improvement to continue without dependency on the coach.
- A system is in place — employees awareness, practices, processes, metrics, levers
- Empowered people — more people can do more and better, take responsibility and act
- Employees know what to look for, signals
- Shared language
- Propagation — others gain experience and train others — a flywheel
Self-assessment — do you need an external coach?
Take the free self-assessment, it takes 5 minutes and suggests how to move forward.
