Monday, April 21, 2008

Executive Coaching - Get Yourself Trained

By George Purdy

Professional coaches have one of the more innovative and ground-breaking career paths available in the business market today, since their job entails shaping individuals to focus on improvement and helping them achieve their corporate goals. This field has blossomed dramatically among large firms and is used industry wide.

Executive coaching is a growing field. With more than 40,000 people currently working in the field, demand for coaches outstrips supply in this billion-dollar a year industry. Many companies prefer training their own coaches as they can be assured of their availability and know that their coaches have received and are providing the best and most company-specific training possible.

Executive coaching used to be reserved for those who weren't performing on the job up to expectations in an effort to increase their productivity and value as well as to retain them. Nowadays this coaching is more often utilized early on in the career in order to establish effective management at both management and executive levels of organizations. It is much easier to teach from the start what expectations are, then to try and undo bad habits that have been too long established.

Since there are so many coaches hailing from a smorgasbord of different backgrounds that are available for hire, choosing a good one can be difficult. It is hard to make sense of the confusing mess of various qualifications, certifications, and titles that coaches can claim. It may be confusing trying to select a type of training. After that, it may be even more confusing trying to select an appropriate coach for that type of training based upon their qualifications.

When you look on the internet, you will find that some companies claim that they can train people to become professional coaches in as little as three or four days. Upon payment of their fee, they might then automatically confer some sort of diploma or other dubious title or certification. Although you might prefer something requiring little time or effort on your part, the reputable programs are likely to require time closer to a year, require actual work experience in coaching, or require academic work for associates, bachelors or masters degrees.

Although it may be possible to hire excellent coaches after checking their references and recommendations it may be difficult to find the specific coach a particular company or industry needs. In such a case it may be prudent to select a current company staff member and send him for specific training in executive coaching. The company will then have an insider coach who know its unique needs and who is also trained in coaching techniques.

Some corporations pay for employees to go through this specialized training. That money is then recovered by decreased costs within, but also by subcontracting that individual to smaller businesses. The business has gotten profitable enough that multinational corporations now set up internal academies so they can verify the training of their professional coaches.

For executive couching development, there are many delivery options. Internet programs can be convenient, but still need to be well developed, reputable, and thorough. Free standing proprietary business schools are another option but may or may not be adequate for one's needs. Programs at accredited community colleges or universities can probably provide the most reliability.

Today, industry spends over a billion dollars on executive coaching. There are more than forty thousand professional coaches employed in the field, and demand always outstrips the supply of available personnel. Most companies try to train their coaches internally to make sure of having people available, as well as to better manage the specific types of training that they need for their business. It is possible for companies to employ coaches from firms which specialize in that field, but this can be problematic. The vast range of certifications that exist in the marketplace can make it hard for these firms to properly narrow their focus.

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