Marshall Goldsmith, a world-renowned executive coach, speaker and author of popular books on personal development, recently answered this question on his blog. He demonstrates when coaching is useless by citing the following three questions he asks the representatives of companies who contact him and want him to coach their managers.
Is the problem behavioral?
Most executive coaches focus on the psychological issues of leadership behavior. There are very few real experts on corporate strategy. Coaching focused on behavior can, however, work only if the manager has a behavioral problem. It can't help him if he lacks technical knowledge or skills. "I can’t make a bad doctor a good doctor or a bad engineer a good engineer," says Goldsmith.
Is the problem related to integrity or ethics?
Integrity is one of the most important skills of every leader. It means being devoted to certain principles, being able to do the right things and maintaining a maximum degree of professionalism. If a manager doesn't respect integrity and violates ethics rules, coaching can't help him. The best thing you can do is to say goodbye to him before he damages your reputation. "You don’t coach integrity violations. You fire them," says Goldsmith.
Is the problem the fact that the company and the manager are going in different directions?
Coaching can't help you here either. "If somebody is going in the wrong direction, behavioral coaching just helps them get there faster," says Goldsmith. Coaching can't make anybody turn in the right direction.
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