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 When Executive
Coaching Shifts to Clinical Consultation
Over the past few issues The Journal for
Quality and Participation and News for a
Change have explored the topic, “Coaching
and Counseling.” Last month focused primarily
on techniques for group coaching, and now
we’re switching the focus to individual
coaching and counseling.
Dr. Peter Graham, Ph.D., is the director of
psychology services at the Professional Renewal
Center. He has written the following article to
help us differentiate between the two intervention
approaches so that we can apply them appropriately
and optimize outcomes for individuals and
organizations.
As you know, hundreds of executive coaches have
sprung up over recent years. Unfortunately, many of
these coaches are consulting in areas that exceed
their expertise. This article briefly compares and
contrasts coaching and counseling to help ensure
their correct application.
Executive coaching and counseling (clinical
consultation/psychotherapy) can be deeply personal,
psychological, and emotional interventions. Although
some coaches have a great deal of business and life
experience, few have the training to diagnose and
treat emotional and mental problems. Similarly, some
clinical psychologists have a great deal of clinical
and organizational experience, but few have the
training to diagnose problems with executive
leadership, work group dysfunction, and
organizational/corporate strategy and
tactics.
When the usual challenges of executive life begin
to transition into emotional problems such as stress
and burnout, personality disorders, or mood disorders
like depression and bipolar illness, coaches can
begin to get in over their heads. Clinicians can
begin to get in over their heads when the personal
and emotional problems and disorders begin to
transition into difficulty formulating strategy;
realizing team goals; and/or building, marketing, and
selling a product effectively.
Without the requisite training and experience
needed in the areas of diagnosis and treatment
pertinent to their respective domains, executive
coaches and clinical psychologists who do not know
the limits of their own practice unwittingly can
compound problems that actually require trained help
of the alternative variety. Those who are considering
the use of an executive coach or psychotherapist or
who are trying to gauge the limits of their current
coaching/therapy relationship are well advised to
keep these limits in mind.
Failing to identify when a coaching or therapeutic
situation has reached its limits can result in a
variety of poor outcomes. One end of the spectrum of
poor outcomes involves money not well spent on a
relatively innocuous intervention. The other end of
the spectrum can involve an untreated mental illness,
resulting in harm to the executive and possibly to
his/her organization and/or family. It’s also a
failed opportunity to capitalize on the latent
potential of a leader, team, or whole organization,
thereby squandering the future of the organization
and altering the careers and lives of many employees.
As is usually the case in the business and clinical
world, caveat emptor (let the buyer
beware)!
Executive coaching:
- Provides guidance in the areas of managing
organizational change and personal change in the
organizational context.
- Hones the individual executive’s
leadership style and effectiveness.
- Provides an organizing framework from where the
executive can better define his/her corporate
strategy and vision.
- Emphasizes the development of the person in the
context of his/her work in the executive
office.
- Counsels leaders in the emotional and
motivational aspects of work and work
relationships.
- Helps executives improve their interpersonal
effectiveness and communication skills in the work
setting.
- Assists executives in understanding corporate
leadership strengths and weaknesses.
- Emphasizes the importance of learning the
career lessons necessary to overcome adversity and
to develop confidence and maturity in one’s
work life.
Like their coaching counterparts in the sports
world, executive coaches can be pivotal in maximizing
individual, team, and company performance in the
pursuit of corporate goals. When practiced ethically,
coaching remains within the limits of the
coach’s expertise and stays focused on the
executive’s leadership, functionality, and
development in the context of the work environment,
work-related tasks, and work relationships. Coaching
should remain within the bounds of this defined role
and relationship and should not become a dual
relationship, involving personal interaction outside
the bounds of the work setting.
On the other hand, clinical
consultation:
- Provides guidance in the areas of managing
personal change in the context of one’s
private life and in the conduct of one’s
public life from a private perspective.
- Hones and provides a private, developmental
understanding of the individual executive’s
interpersonal style and effectiveness.
- Provides an organizing framework where the
executive can better define his/her private
strategy and vision for his/her personal
life.
- Emphasizes the development of the person in the
context of his/her private experience of work in
the executive office.
- Counsels leaders in the emotional and
motivational aspects of life in general.
- Helps executives improve their interpersonal
effectiveness and communication skills in all
settings.
- Assists executives in understanding personal
strengths and weaknesses in all life
domains.
- Emphasizes the importance of learning the
personal and life lessons necessary to overcome
adversity and to develop confidence and maturity in
one’s personal life.
Clinical psychologists can be pivotal in
maximizing individual, family, and group performance
in the pursuit of the personal goals of the
individuals and relational units involved. When
practiced ethically, counseling remains within the
limits of the clinician’s expertise. It stays
focused on the executive’s psychological
functioning and development in the context of all the
relevant environments, life tasks, and relationships
in general. Counseling should remain within the
bounds of the defined clinical role and relationship
and should not become a dual relationship, involving
personal interaction outside the bounds of the
private, therapeutic setting.
When appropriately deployed, both coaching and
counseling can be used to improve individual, team,
and organizational performance, but their focus is
quite different, as are the interventions they use.
It is wise, therefore, to have a clear understanding
of the intended outcomes and to make sure that the
consultant chosen has the proper credentials for the
achieving those outcomes.
DR. PETER GRAHAM is an expert in the field of
assessing and treating professionals with mood and
anxiety disorders, substance abuse/ dependence
issues, personality disorders, and behavioral
challenges. The Professional Renewal Center is an
international treatment center for professionals with
substance and/or behavioral addictions. Dr. Graham
can be reached via e-mail at pgraham@prckansas.org
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