discussion

Executive Coaches will continue to be needed in organizations across the United States. Great leaders are much like athletes who need coaching, support, direction, and encouragement. Do you agree with the point of view below and how would you encourage to be a better leader and coach in theses trying times?

After the COVID-19 pandemic, executive coaching should re-imagine the field as many organizations transition to a hybrid model of working remotely and at the office, where organizational culture shifts to an electronic experience and may no longer make as big of an impact to performance as it does today, and relationship management relies on using different cues from people seen through a screen, since body language and micro shifts in behavior from the coachee may be difficult to gage and there are limited interactions during virtual meetings that prevent some perspectives from being perceived. For this reason, I think that transforming executive coaching into a more electronic experience, such as via an app that connects directly with a coach, may be feasible. Today, apps like Noom are gaining traction using this approach, and Forbes Coaches Council (2018) describes how the shift can enable engagement by providing content outside of a feedback session and by presenting microlearning lessons the coachee can follow at his or her desired pace. By integrating technology in the practice, coaches can present a clearer image of what the goal and roadmap look like or even try virtual reality to practice several scenarios the coachee might struggle with (Lancefield et al., 2019).

Similarly, executive coaching is gaining popularity and as leaders try to implement value-based styles that turn the nature of the workplace into a meaningful and positive experience, then it also makes sense for executive coaching to expand into coaching individual contributors to facilitate self-discovery and the importance of inner drivers for finding out how to best contribute to the organization or how to develop a path for career growth, which allows individuals to contribute in ways their role may have limited them, and they can create a stronger connection to the organization while employers may be able to increase talent retainment as competition increases.