First, figure out what kind of coaching you want.
There are generally three kinds of coaching.
1. Remedial coaching. A top performer has some gaps in either skillset or awareness, and it’s impacting their ability to work effectively. This could be an effective sales leader with a bad temper, or a skilled creative director who doesn’t work well with women. It is often short term; 3-6 months. Usually, this is arranged and driven by HR or L&D rather than individuals.
2. Skills or objectives-based coaching. The main reason people get coaches is to work on developing specific skills or to work against key objectives. Here the coach will do some coaching/training or suggest tools to build the skill set to reach objectives and act as an accountability partner. This can be short to medium term, depending on the situation, 3 months to a year.
3. The advisor. This is the rarest type of coaching and, for me, the most rewarding. I call this my Consigliera role, acting as an ongoing confidential advisor to a leader. I’ve been lucky to have a number of these relationships, some of which have run for many years. Leaders have a lonely job. Often their spouses or partners don’t want to hear more about the job, especially if the spouse is carrying the burden of childcare and household management because of the leader’s long hours. CEOs and founders often have no peers, and while they can have good relationships with board members, there are limits to what is appropriate to share with them. Often, they don’t have close friends outside of work who understand their business, and so they can’t get into the weeds on tactics or specifics with friends. Of course, C Suite leaders also want to build skills and have an accountability partner, but often they need a safe, confidential place to process the tough things.
Once you know what you want, you know what to look for. The best way to get a coach is to get a referral from someone you know. Ask for referrals. Interview prospective coaches. Ask questions. Make sure they’ve done the type of coaching you want. Get a sense of what they are like, and pay attention to how you feel around them. Do they have the right blend of listening and talking for you? Do they understand your industry or role? How much experience do they have? Which of those three areas listed above do they work in most?
Other things to keep in mind:
