Execs look for an edge
Many athletes, singers and actors have coaches.
Now, many chief executives do too. The coaching experience can be helpful, but as with other performers, the outcome still depends on how the executive works.
"Effective coaching requires more than talent," says David Rohlander, a business coach in Orange, Calif. "It requires trust, respect, understanding, empathy and resolution."
It's more art than science.
And not everyone gets good results from having a coach.
Bill Bancroft, chief executive of Patrol One, a security company in Santa Ana, has benefited from coaching.
"I built two businesses up and at some point I hit a wall; I couldn't get beyond a certain point," he says.
Patrol One's revenues were about $6.5 million, but he realized that he had trained all his managers and that he might benefit from an outside expert with no agenda other than helping him succeed.
He had known Rohlander for 30 years and turned to his coaching two years ago.
Rohlander, a former business owner, has coached other owners for nine years. A believer in a combination of peer advisory groups and one-on-one coaching, he works with Vistage International, the new name for TEC, the nation's largest CEO membership organization based in San Diego.
Individual business coaching can cost $200 a month and up, he estimates. Vistage membership ranges from $210 to $995 a month, depending on the individual's management role.
Anyone who wants to achieve more can benefit from coaching, Rohlander says. But chief executives who don't want feedback, are not candid or won't follow through on corrective action won't reap those benefits.
Tom Hernandez, partner at Artistic Maintenance, a landscaper in Lake Forest and another Rohlander client, agrees.
"If you wonder whether you need a coach, you probably do," he says. "If you say, 'I don't need a coach,' even if you had one you probably wouldn't be open enough to get maximum benefit."
To achieve those benefits, different business executives prefer different styles of coaching. Some prefer "life coaches" who concentrate on personal life. Coaches like Rohlander focus on the person's business activities.
Many executives just want one-on-one coaching.
Groups like Vistage International have an additional element: small groups of executives in noncompeting companies who meet monthly to discuss common issues.
"Groups provide camaraderie and accountability," Rohlander says. "The executive gets multiple points of view, independent points of view."
In Vistage, the monthly group meeting is all day, part of which may be taken by a speaker on specific business topics. Then Rohlander meets with each member privately each month for 90 minutes to two hours to hash out issues unique to that executive.
Bancroft says that the groups and business coaching have confirmed that some of his decisions were right but also has given him the opportunity to step away from the daily fray to see the big picture.
The experience encouraged him to increase prices and provide more service. He didn't lose a single customer.
Improved financial results are common, says Rohlander. Among Vistage members, revenue growth rates average 5.1 percent, compared to 1.7 percent before joining.
