How Executives Succeed through Executive Coaching

I Tonomura, M Bansho 2015

In recent years, it has become common for executives to hire executive coaches to produce better results for their organizations in various ways, such as in terms of business performance, corporate culture reform, branding, and more. The role of the executive coach is to hold dialogue with these executives, supporting them and contributing to the production of better results. So what are the differences between executives undergoing executive coaching who achieve high level results, and those who do not? Do executive coaches interact differently with these high achievers? We have gathered and analyzed data from 2,512 coaching clients to answer these questions and to learn what factors may help the success of an executive coaching engagement. The analysis tool used for this research was the CSES. The CSES is made up of three categories: A. Overall effects of coaching felt by the clients B. Changes clients experienced in themselves as a result of coaching C. How the coach interacted with the client Post-coaching, clients were asked to respond to this survey to evaluate their coaching experience and executive coaches. (For a complete list of question items, please refer to the Appendix.) Among the 2,512 survey respondents, 215 held executive positions (CEO, Chairman, President, Director, etc.). In this report, we look closely at the data from these executives, but also analyze data obtained from the non-executives. The level of results achieved through executive coaching was defined using the scores reported by clients in the question item A1, “I achieved the goals I had set at the outset of the coaching engagement.” Analysis of data showed that executives who achieved high level results through executive coaching reported being better able to 1) be proactive towards goal accomplishment and problem solving, and 2) deal with conflict in interpersonal relationships than other executives. Meanwhile, it was also learned that (in comparison to other executives) executive coaches of these high-achievers interacted using 1) focused dialogue on goals and 2) various coaching tools more effectively. In this report, to validate the effects of executive coaching, we show the results of the analysis from the following perspectives: -The gap between the executives’ degree of satisfaction and results achieved from executive coaching (p.4) -Characteristics of changes in executives who produced high level results through executive coaching (p.5-8) -Interaction of executive coaches with executives who attained high level results (p.9-10)