Spotlight

Coaching continues to be an exciting career avenue pursued by countless psychologists and others. However, while many agree that coaching assumes certain broad characteristics, there is a wide variance in how we practice this intervention, what training we consider essential, and how we manage unique challenges. This is true even among Consulting Psychologists. Issues related to coaching are heightened, relative to other consulting interventions, as many psychologists consider coaching to be a good transition point into the world of consulting from other practice areas. The focus on “transferable skills” from former psychologist roles, has led to much discussion about how we ensure sound, ethical practice and helpful training and supervision without creating excessive controls.

This Spotlight article focuses on a few areas that demonstrate the complexity of a seemingly simple intervention. Jackie Gnepp, Ph.D. (Humanly Possible, Inc.), John Stevens, Psy.D. (President & Managing Partner of Knickerbocker & Stevens, Inc.), and Chris Truhe, Psy.D. (Truhe Consulting) provide their thoughts and insights on topics ranging from coaching unique populations to how to partner with human resource professionals in organizations.

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Chris Truhe
1. Providing benefits to the whole organization while coaching individuals. When we diagnose performance issues of individuals we can also collect data about the larger system. Providing that data to a larger audience, in ways suggested by the literature, increases return on investment to the larger organization.

2. Expertise in the psychology of organizations is the key competence provided by organizational and consulting psychologists. Without this essential competence coaching psychologists may be in violation of the APA code of ethics by putting their clients at risk and practicing outside their boundaries of competence.

3. Expertise in the psychology of organizations also differentiates us from others. We need to affirm the value of understanding the psychology of whole systems in not only enhancing the individual and the system but in avoiding the harm that is likely to result when the psychology of systems is ignored.

Jackie Gnepp
In my mind, there are 3 major issues that relate to the future of coaching within the field of psychology:

1. How will we, as consulting psychologists who coach, distinguish ourselves from the legions of other professionals and quasi-professionals who also coach?

2. How can we, as consulting psychologists who coach, do a better job of embracing the findings of scientific psychology and applying these to our coaching activities?

3. Can we, as consulting psychologists who coach, move beyond the “assess and remediate” approach of the past decades into a more positive psychology focused on the success and self-actualization of our clients?

John Stevens
As I scan the landscape of “coaching”, I see several concerns and issues. The first is definitional. I am not sure that when we reference ‘coaching’, we all are talking about the same thing. For example, I think that coaching intended to strengthen an individual’s executive role performance is different from coaching aimed at improving a person’s managerial role/task performance, which in turn is different from coaching to improve one’s behavioral style and personal skill, and which is different still from personal lifestyle coaching. I believe that without some effort to distinguish “apples” from “oranges” from “pears” it will be difficult to know how to optimize the “field” of coaching as a helping service.

The second is preparation. I believe that “coaching” is a form of “helping”. Successful “helping” (“coaching”) requires that the helper not only possess adequate professional knowledge, competence, and skills, but also a strength of character and insight that enable him or her to ethically and appropriately manage the trust and dependency issues inherent in successful helping relationships. Given that most coaching occurs behind closed doors, the challenge is how to prepare those interested in coaching so that they ethically and appropriately protect the integrity, needs and independence of those they are coaching.

The third is public perception. I think that without more effort to help the public distinguish more clearly the differences between different coaching intents and purposes, coaching will be relegated to the list of “business fads”, i.e., ideas and practices that seemed promising but failed to deliver on expectations.

John Stevens
Again, thinking about coaching as a form of helping, I believe that it is critically important to understand and appreciate the unique interests, needs, and issues that different client populations have. As with any successful helping relationship, being able to “meet” the client where they are at is crucial.

Coaches, I think, are ethically responsible to have a reasonable depth of appreciation and understanding of the “world” as their potential client sees it and feels it. Otherwise, I believe that while the coach’s intent may be honorable, he or she will more than likely fail to engage the potential client in a healthy, ethical way, and hence fail to help the client productively contend with his or her interests, needs, and agenda.

(1) Gender differences as related the coaching alliance. Women participate in self-development activities in far greater numbers than men. As a group, they are primed for coaching, and move into the coaching relationship with greater ease than men. We need to understand how we act differently with each gender. Women, who naturally go to more personal, deeper insights may tempt the coach to follow her down that intimate path too long. We need to monitor ourselves to keep the appropriate balance of personal and system material in the coaching.

(2) Gender related power. Developing a woman executives’ understanding about how power and gender operate, especially in her organization, is the most essential issue for the vast majority of clients. Women are inevitably dismayed by the razor’s edge they must walk to use power effectively. We can help her develop a healthy consciousness to avoid either diluting her interactions or saturating them with power.

Speaking from the perspective of a white woman, I offer three key ideas on coaching ethnic minorities:

(1) Be familiar with your cultural history and its role in your social relations.

(2) Assume a position of receptivity about another’s culture. This can be particularly difficult for people who want to communicate competence and encourage the client that you will be able to “get him or her.”

(3) Put the topic of race on the table in initial meetings. Minority clients, generally, know that ethnicity is an issue in their workplace and will be an issue in this coaching relationship.

Race and ethnicity dynamics are always relevant and often hot issues. Enabling discussions about race and ethnicity is a needed service for organizations and their members.

Jackie Gnepp
I have come across a very interesting difference between for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. In for-profits, managers seldom rise to upper executive levels without considerable prior experience as managers. These senior executives are selected, in good part, because of demonstrated managerial skills.

The career path in not-for-profits is often different. I have coached a number of clients who were selected as CEO's of their not-for-profit organizations largely on the basis of their success at pursuing their organization's mission, rather than on the basis of a progressive record of management competence. Indeed, many leaders of not-for-profit organizations have had little opportunity as managers for training, practice, or mentoring. Thus, they can find themselves in positions of great responsibility but with little preparation. I have found these not-for-profit executives eager to learn and grateful for a sounding board. I have been impressed by their openness, their concern for ethics and values, and their willingness to reveal themselves as human.

Jackie Gnepp
My greatest challenge has been to help organizations recognize the value of coaching as an investment in their best people. Successful executives who are offered coaching understand that it is a signal about their future career, and they repay their organizations with their best efforts and loyalty.

In contrast, when coaching is recommended only as a "developmental opportunity" (read, "remediation"), organizations turn a highly rewarding activity into a much more mixed experience. One consequence is that it makes it harder for executives to seek out coaching proactively. Another consequence is that managers who benefit from coaching by demonstrating increased competence, confidence, and value to the organization, often take their knowledge and improved skills elsewhere, because they can and because they save face by doing so.

John Stevens
For me it is the personal struggle that ensues whenever I witness executives making ethically questionable but legally defensible decisions that have far-reaching negative impacts on people who have invested their effort, loyalty and trust in a business endeavor.

Chris Truhe
The most challenging experience I have had, and continue to have, is in speaking with leaders about the effects of race on the Caucasian managers’ perception of performance of African Americans in organizations wherein race is excluded from public discourse. In a particular case, I was hired by a senior HR leader, a Caucasian man, unable to utter the word race without extreme discomfort, to work with an African American man. His demeanor was representative of the organization that had low racial consciousness and specific symptoms of racism. The pinnacle event of any executive coaching involving race relations is facilitating the first conversations which enable two parties to publicly share and examine the emotions, assumptions, fears, and goals as related to inter-racial organizational relations.

Do you partner with internal management and HR during a coaching engagement? If so, how?

Chris Truhe
I do not exercise this strategy to its full advantage. I typically go into organizations through line management, who then contact HR either to adhere to corporate protocol or to offer assistance. For example, with one client, I am on a preferred provider list, which allows managers to access me as a referral directly. In this case, I also call them and have lunch a few times a year.

Jackie Gnepp
When coaching is requested by the organization, I like to get buy-in from the individual to be coached prior to meeting other members of the organization. Sometimes internal management or HR holds the view that a problem resides in the individual to be coached. I always strive to reserve judgment on the sources of problems. I want the client to know that I bring a systems perspective to my work with organizations.

For me, partnering with internal management and HR means involving them in determining the goals for the coaching and eliciting their cooperation in making the coaching successful, e.g., by allowing for experimentation with new behaviors or providing public support for the person. Subsequent to the assessment phase, I include the coaching client in all meetings with internal management and HR, a practice that ensures the integrity of the coaching relationship and builds trust.

John Stevens
I typically try to discern who has a vested interest in the “what, why, and who” that defines my engagement with a client, and then encourage some dialogue upfront about what I think might be some of their concerns and issues with me as a consultant engaged in their company. Then, I look for opportunities to be helpful. By keeping HR and other senior management executives “in the loop” with regular follow-up contact, I am able to work productively with some, but not all, management staff and HR professionals. Those that I fail to build an alliance with sometimes succeed in delimiting my coaching/consulting work or derailing the consulting engagement.

John Stevens
Since most coaching occurs behind closed doors away from the regular scrutiny of professional peers and colleagues, I believe that mentoring models and dual-coaching models have some potential as training approaches for coaches. Unfortunately, we have not yet developed the structures and practices that enable these models to be utilized. For example, there is yet to be a definitive call for experienced professionals to mentor less experienced coaches in our profession or a process to prepare those who could (and should) mentor or supervise the less experienced professionals. In addition, few experienced consulting psychologists have taken inexperienced consultants into their coaching engagements with clients, presumably because the client might resist.

1. Develop solid expertise in 3 theoretical domains (a) organizational psychology or systems theory, (b) career psychology, and (b) counseling psychology

3.Perform an evaluation with more than one evaluator for every coaching intervention one completes.

Jackie Gnepp
Consulting psychologists who are both competent psychologists and competent consultants have all the necessary skills to be competent coaches. With experience and, where possible, mentoring, these psychologists develop into confident and accomplished coaches. I would dispute the idea that qualified psychologists need telephone courses, certificates, or workshops that derive their tools and techniques from unlicensed coaching associations and schools. Building on a rich knowledge base of social psychology, organizational psychology, counseling psychology, cognitive psychology and learning, we are perfectly and uniquely positioned to develop our own coaching approaches that stem from our expertise as psychologists.

What steps did you take to establish yourself as a coach and build a client base?

Chris Truhe
For me, building a coaching practice comes down to building expertise then building a reputation. These can be accomplished through the following:

Jackie Gnepp
I am often asked this question by people who have had difficulty establishing themselves as coaches and building a client base. The question presupposes that taking the right steps will lead to a thriving coaching practice. In truth, I believe that the current demand for coaching among potential clients has not kept pace with the explosion of interest among consultants of all stripes in providing this service. As a field, we have not yet reached the "tipping point," when every executive and high-potential manager feels it necessary and appropriate to engage a qualified coach. The Society of Consulting Psychology could play an important, even pivotal, role in creating such a tipping point. Working together, we can have a far greater impact on our practices than we can by just marketing ourselves individually. We must, as a group, meet the challenge of increasing the appreciation of, and thus the demand for, the practice of executive coaching.

John Stevens
To establish myself as an executive coach and to build a coaching client base, I started by tagging along with other senior management psychology consultants as they engaged with executives and managers. Together we “coached” client-managers (2-on-1). It was a great “tag team” experience. I fully accepted the role as ‘student-learner’ and followed the lead of the senior consultant as he engaged with the client–manager in a “coaching dialogue”. As the opportunity presented itself, several coaching assignments with less senior managers were then offered to me with the client-manager’s blessing. I have since reflected long and hard on what actually occurs behind closed doors in my executive coaching relationships, and have since presented and marketed myself along those lines.

Chris Truhe, Ph.D.
Dr. Truhe is Principal of Truhe Consulting, based in Summit, New Jerseyand dedicated to strengthening organizations through effective organizational relations, insightful leadership, self-monitoring work groups, and core human resource practices as the keys to managing assets and expenses. Working with Fortune 500 companies as well as government agencies, and start-up businesses, Dr. Truhe and her associates consult in a broad range of industries, including information technology, telecommunications, telemarketing, financial services, pharmaceuticals and consumer products. Dr. Truhe earned a doctorate from Rutgers University. She is a Visiting Professor at Rutgers University Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology where she is Director of the Career Psychology Group.

John Stevens, Ph.D.
Dr. John H. Stevens, Jr. is President and Managing Partner of Knickerbocker & Stevens, Inc. He began his management psychology consulting career in 1985 with RHR International. He later co-founded the management psychology firm of McSherry, Diedrich & Stevens, Inc. and spent 10 years consulting across the US and in Canada and Europe. In 1999, he founded his current management psychology consulting firm, Knickerbocker & Stevens, Inc., and continues to advise senior-level business executives on issues relating to organization and leadership effectiveness. He received his doctoral degree from Rutgers University, has been an adjunct faculty member of the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology, and was a Director-level manager in a healthcare organization. His professional experience includes working three years as an interim senior-level executive for a $300 million multi-national manufacturing company.

Jackie Gnepp, Ph.D.
Jackie Gnepp, Ph.D. is President of Humanly Possible® Inc., which provides executive coaching, organizational consulting, and management education designed to help individuals and organizations develop leadership, boost performance, and maximize achievement. Dr. Gnepp has extensive experience as a coach, educator, manager, and consultant in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. She is an expert in individual and group coaching, psychological assessment, and fostering improved interpersonal communication. An accomplished educator and facilitator, she has shared her knowledge of management psychology, team building, and leadership development with hundreds of executives.

Dr. Gnepp’s career includes positions as visiting fellow at the Melbourne Business School in Australia; as executive coach and corporate training manager for Andersen Consulting; and as a psychology professor at Northern Illinois University. She has also worked as a consulting psychologist and manager in the behavioral health care industry in the U.S. and Australia, and as an instructor in executive education programs in France, Spain, and Singapore.

Laurie Moret, Ph.D.
Laurie Moret is Vice President, Consulting with Right Management Consultants, working to help business leaders craft the solutions they need in the areas of organizational development, leadership development, and talent management. Laurie focuses on enhancing individual and team performance to produce business results. Laurie aids clients in clarifying their present state, their ideal goals, and how to bridge the gap to achieve their vision. Laurie’s approach is highly collaborative, with the intent of utilizing a company’s culture and establishing relationships to accomplish change objectives and leadership effectiveness. She holds her B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, her M.A. in Community Counseling Psychology from the University of Georgia, and her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Arizona State University.