Examples of senior executives who are “out” about coaching?
by jsibley
I recently wanted to help someone make a case to their CEO that the CEO might want to explore receiving executive coaching.
It seems to me that one way to interest this CEO would be to let her know about other CEOs (or, at least, senior executives) who are open about having received executive coaching.
This is not about breaking any sort of confidentiality, but about pooling public information about executives who have spoken or written about having received executive coaching. If you know of any examples, could you please share it with us? Thanks.
About the Author
Jonathan Sibley, LCSW, MBA is a practicing coach and psychotherapist and is chief pot-stirrer for dialog about the relationship between coaching and psychotherapy. After receiving his MBA at INSEAD and a successful career at a Fortune 100 corporation, Jonathan went on to receive his MSW from Columbia University School of Social Work and to study coaching at Executive Coach Academy. Jonathan brings an integrative and multi-cultural perspective to both coaching and psychotherapy and works in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German.
Jonathan has presented on the relationship between coaching and psychotherapy at annual conferences of the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) and the North American Society of Psychotherapy Research (NASPR). Jonathan also leads the Coaching and Psychotherapy Special Interest Group of the International Coach Federation. For more information about me, please click here
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There are 4 Responses so far...
You are right about perserving client confidentiality. My experience is many executive clients don’t want to publize the fact they have a coach. Some do.
Here is one source on handling executive client confidentiality: http://executivecoaching360.com/executivecoaching_4.html
How do others handle this sensitive matter?
Here is an article in which I interviewed executive coaches and executives that had been coached.
I asked them some FAQs about coaching that others may find useful. You can find it here:
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Executive_Coaching_Frequently_Asked_Questions.html
Thanks, Dr. Cutts. I see that even in your article, there appears to be a desire for some anonymity among the clients cited.
Perhaps organizations such as the Foundation of Coaching, ICCO, ICF might consider the benefits of having some sort of public spokespeople taken from the ranks of those who have benefited from executive coaching. It could even just be people who are willing to go on record as having received executive coaching.
I’m sure that some clients will prefer not to go public, but others might be more accommodating, if they are asked and if a good case is made for how it will benefit others.
It turns out that I found an answer on my bookshelf!
In “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” (an interesting book, by the way), Marshall Goldsmith has quotes from the following people who praise the coaching they received from him:
Alan Mulally, CEO, Ford Motor Company, former president and CEO, Boeing Commercial Airlines
J.P. Garnier, CEO, GlaxoSmithKline
Cass Wheeler, CEO, American Heart Association
Mark Tercek, managing director, Goldman Sachs & Co.
David Pyott, CEO, Allergan
Jack Pelton, CEO, Cessna
In “Leadership on the Line”, Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky talk about the executive coaching that Leslie Wexner, founder and CEO of The Limited received and the transformation of the company that occurred.
So, please keep your eyes out for further examples of senior executives who have been coached and contribute to this list. Thanks!