Executive & Life Coaching at Edora Asia Coaching Page 7.

Who are the ‘executives’ in executive coaching? Executives are those in senior positions in an organisation typically the chief executive officer (CEO), directors and senior managers. In a large organisation, the ‘entry level’ is a manager with other managers reporting to him. In small businesses, it is the executive director. For solo traders and partnerships, it is the business owners. In Singapore, executives can also include employees in the organisation’s ‘executive’ grade. They may not necessarily be a ‘manager’, which is an appointment. This grade is usually the entry point for employees with university degrees, or non-university graduates who have been promoted to that grade. When they have direct reports, effective management and leadership can enhance their performance. Who can benefit from executive coaching? Traditionally, it is the top executives that receive one-on-one coaching. This is not surprising as leadership development is often cited as the top purpose to hire an external coach (Underhill, McAnally, & Goriath, 2007). It can be expensive but the decision to invest is usually weighed against the cost of making more bad decisions. However, as leadership is encouraged at every level for best company performance (Goffee & Jones, 2006), it would appear that executives at all levels can benefit from coaching. As an aside, a study on the emotional intelligence of Singapore managers has shown that there is considerable room for improvements in the emotional skills of the Chinese Singapore managers (Gosling, 2006). As we now know that emotional intelligence is a predictor of leadership performance (Bar-On, 2006), it would appear that local managers at different levels can be prospective coachees too. Who pays for executive coaching? Organisations that use external coaches would sponsor their selected executives. Executives seeking coaching can also be self- sponsored either by choice or if their employers do not offer this alternative mode of executive development. References Bar-On, R. (2006). The Bar-On EQ-i leadership user’s guide. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems Inc Goffee, D. & Jones, G (2006). Why should anyone be led by you?: What it takes to be an authentic leader. Boston: Harvard Business School Press Gosling, M. (2006). Measuring emotional intelligence of managers in Singapore and the application of emotional intelligence for individual and organisational effectiveness: An exploratory study. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of South Australia, 2006). Retrieved from http://emotionalwealthacademy.com/pdf/research/DrMikeGosling_Doctoral Thesis_2006locked.pdf on August 5, 2011 Underhill, B. O. , McAnally, K., & Koriath, J.J. (2007). Executive coaching for results: The definitive guide to developing organizational leaders. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Executive coaching - for whom? the performance & well-being people