There are two basic rules for self-selecting and hiring a coach. First, make sure that the executive is ready and willing to be coached. Second, allow the executive to choose whom he or she wants to work with, regardless of who in the organization initiated the engagement.
Today, coaching is a popular and potent solution for ensuring top performance from an organization's most critical talent. Business people need to develop not just quantitative capabilites but also people-oriented skills, and coaches are helpful for that. As coaching has become more common, any stigma attached to receiving it at the individual level has disappeared. Now, it is often considered a badge of honor.
One of the most unexpected findings of the Harvard Business Review (HBR) 2009 survey is that coaches (even some of the psychologists in the survey) do not place high value on a background as a psychologist; they ranked it second from the bottom on a list of possible credentials. That's surprising since some organizations only hire psychologists as coaches. It may be that most of the survey respondents see little connection between formal training as a psychologist and business insight--which is the most important factor in successful coaching.
Although experience and a clear coaching methodology are important, the best credential is a satisfied customer. A full 50% of the coaches in the HBR survey indicated that businesses select them on the basis of references.
For most executives, work and life issues cannot be kept entirely separate. This is particularly true of senior executives who spend grueling hours on the job and are often on the road and away from home. Many of them feel some strain on their personal lives. Not surprisingly, therefore, the more coaches can tap into a leader's motivation to improve his or her home life, the greater and more lasting the impact of the coaching is likely to be at work.
Source: HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW, January 2009