Isolation and lack of time to think may be the bane of every CEO's existence.
The more CEOs work and the more responsibilities they
take on, the more isolated they become. Their spot at
the top cuts them off from the people lower down on
the corporate totem pole, and thus from reliable,
"un-spun" information.
So what's a CEO to do? Why, get help, of course!
No single definition can capture what every executive
coach does. But most coaches who work with CEOs
seem to be part confessor, part behavioral therapist,
and part management consultant. And all coaches will
tell you that unlike the members of the "C-suite," on
whom the CEO relies, they aren't angling for his job, they
have no vested interest in the company, and they will
come in with a fresh perspective.
CEO coaching comes in many varieties. One is aimed at
helping the executive hop off the treadmill long enough
to think. "Coaching is a way to have an outboard
processor, someone who's helping you process your own
experience, which is just coming at you too fast and too
furiously," says Rachel Bellow, a consultant and executive
coach based in Manhattan. Call this "outsourcing your
self-reflection"—bringing in help to do the kinds of thinking
you might not have time to do on your own (Was I too
hard on my CFO at the corporate retreat?), or would prefer
not to (Was it because he reminds me of the bully from
my junior high school?).
Simply, the coach is a secret advisor and has no other
relationship in the CEO's life---that allows both parties to
say the "unsayable to each other" and get to a place of
self-awareness where great leverage for change can
happen.
Source: Rachel Donadio, The Atlantic, Nov 2004