Does your coach get what you do?

Many executive coaches work across business sectors in which they have no experience. Do coaches need to understand your business sector or profession to be effective?

Over the last ten years executive coaching has spread across much of the private, public and third sectors. Starting in many high-powered, listed businesses – usually for those holding C-suite positions – it has gradually been adopted in more sectors and reached down to middle and junior positions. A recent study suggests a 50% global rise in the number of active coaches.(Source: ICF Global Coaching Study 2023)

People are businesses’ greatest asset

There are several reasons for this: people are increasingly recognised as an organisation’s greatest asset; global competition demands continuous improvement in performance; old ‘hire & fire’ employment practices are disruptive and costly; and a younger generation cares about the way they are treated, as much as how much they’re paid.

Equally, the adoption of coaching in organisations has been enabled by the rapid growth in the number of coaches, falling entry prices and the revolution in online delivery. This has made coaching, in all its formats, much easier to access and to afford.

So does it matter if a coach working in manufacturing or professional services has no experience of that sector or occupation? Does your coach need to understand your sector or the culture of the organisation you work for?

Some will rightly argue that coaching is about helping someone fulfill their potential, whoever they are and whatever they do. They will rightly say that its not about someone’s technical knowledge or skills, its about maximising their own performance, as they become more responsible in their workplace.

So I don’t think you have to be a qualified accountant to coach a Finance Director.

Context matters

However I do think that an executive coach will be more effective if they come from, or understand how, different sectors and different types of organisations work. Context matters – whether it is the market people work in; the size, ownership and ethos of their organisation; or the benchmarks of that occupation against which people judge themselves.

Thus working for a privately-owned professional property agency is quite different to working for a FTSE 100 corporation, in say consumer products. Their market, their ethos and culture are all different and each factor influences both how coachees will see themselves and the benchmarks against which they are judged.

Because I’ve worked in both public and private sectors I’ve had a very broad experience of a wide range of organisations – from major aerospace and automotive businesses, through midsized family concerns through to small businesses and start ups. Its an unusual perspective and its helped me understand the culture of a organisation – who owns it, who leads it, its structures, and its ethos – in short what makes it tick.

Knowing the property world

However, my greatest experience is in the property and construction world. My father was a Chartered Surveyor and I studied Land Management at the University of Reading. I’ve worked across both the commercial and residential sectors, for developers and investors and with surveyors, architects, designers, developers and many more. I get the acronyms and the in-jokes. I also know how those professions really regard each other and the challenge, for example, of getting professionals to embrace business development, or managing people.

many professionals value a coach who knows their world

Technically, this doesn’t make me a better executive coach in the professional property world. What it does do, however, is to enable me to relate to the coachee straight away. It means I understand the significance of their professional concerns and how they see their career. It also means I understand the culture of their workplace and the benchmarks they and their peers value. Many professionals value this.

Just as important, my experience in the property world means I understand what drives most property businesses, the benchmarks they need to meet and the market within which they operate. In talking with business owners it really helps to understand their concerns, not just the coachee.

To conclude, knowing a sector or occupation isn’t mandatory for someone to coach in that market. However, if you understand what makes a business and its key players tick, you’re far more likely to prove effective in helping them fulfil their potential.