Moving up? An executive coach might be worth the cost

Newly promoted executives often crack the champagne in celebration only to suffer doubts later about whether they really have what it takes to ace their new high-powered gig.

To get on the track, many turn to an executive coach.

That expert can help you polish your public image, hone better leadership skills or simply help you prepare for your next move up the corporate ladder.

Whatever the scenario, hiring one “can be a game changer. A lot of people don’t know it’s possible,” said Beth Simermeyer, a former Ecolab senior executive who hired her first coach early in her professional career when she was rising up the ranks of S.C. Johnson & Son.

Years later, when preparing to retire from Ecolab, Simermeyer hired another coach to help her prepare to take on several board director roles. She has since become an executive coach herself and now works with 10 to 15 clients each month.

“Everybody has to deal with getting promoted at some point. You are either wanting to be promoted, or all of a sudden being elevated to a new position. Not everybody gets the training that they need. So they’ll go and hire an executive coach,” she said. “It’s important to find a coach who is a good fit, someone who is highly confidential, who you can trust and be vulnerable with.”

Minnesota has more than 140 executive coaches and coaching firms so there is no shortage of places to look, according to the professional coach directory Noomii and the state chapter of the International Coaching Federation (ICF). Some coaches come out of an H.R. background. Some are former chief executives; others come from the psychology and healing fields.

Do some research. Find which direction most appeals to you and then start making calls.

Make no mistake. Coaching is a serious investment.

Expect to pay $150 to $1,000 an hour for an independent executive coach. Large executive training firms can charge $15,000 to $30,000 for a 12-month engagement. Whatever the price, ask if your employer will help with the costs, experts suggested, noting that female professionals sometimes don’t know they can and should ask.

Expect to work with your coach for three months to two years. Arrangements often involve video conferencing two or three times a month — or more if you’re crunching through a company crisis, major restructuring or serious deadline.

Some coaches fly in to meet with their clients. The higher the leadership level, the more elaborate arrangements might be.

Coaching’s no cakewalk, either. Expect to be challenged.

“Executive coaches are about helping individuals and leaders become better at what they’re doing: to be able to produce more, deliver more, get noticed more or get promoted more,” said Anne deBruin Sample, who bought the career transition counseling firm Navigate Forward six years ago after serving as the human resource head at Pepsi Americas, Thrivent Financial and Caribou Coffee and Bagels.

“An executive coach is going to ‘skill you up’ in a concentrated area,” such as helping you develop a better executive presence, sell an idea to top leaders, prepare for a critical board meeting, narrow strategic initiatives to concise “one-pagers” or better manage people, said Wendy Wiesman, who founded the career-transition consulting firm Ready, Set, Pivot (RSP) four years ago after leaving the senior marketing director post at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota.

“An executive coach is someone who’s working with individuals and next-leveling their performance within that organization,” Wiesman said, adding that it takes work.

Some mangers need guidance from someone who has been at that level, Simermeyer said. Others hit speed bumps and need more help.

“These 5 to 10 percent degree adjustments can be really, really meaningful and make all the difference,” Simermeyer said.

Executives — whether newly minted or aspiring — want to know the best way to speak, how to establish eye contact and where to place their hands when speaking. They need to appear confident, develop large strategic plans and communicate clearly to every level of personnel in the company.

That’s hard since senior leaders deliver both fun and difficult messages.

Some new executives need to build completely different skills from those they relied on previously to build their careers.

For example, a senior executive joining a corporate board of directors for the first time needs to perfect the art of corporate governance. A new CEO needs to excel in plotting long-range, strategic goals that will direct a company five to 10 years into the future. Those responsibilities may have little to do with your old job, but can be taught, Simermeyer and Wiesman stressed.

But you better “be open to feedback,” said Mike Meyer, an author and one of the executive coaches General Mills, Pentair, Ecolab, Blue Cross and other large employers hire to onboard new executives and provide performance coaching for long-timers wrestling with a particular blind spot or challenge.

Because the work of being an executive is intense, “choose a coach with the tools, training and experience you need. Find someone who will both challenge and support you,” said Meyer, who works at the Navigate Forward firm.

Many corporations value what coaches do because it can save them money, Meyer said.

Research shows “about 18 percent of new executives wash out,” which is expensive for companies, especially at the senior level, he said. “So anything that a company can do to insure that person’s success is good long-term.“

If you’ve decided a coach is for you, know where to look.

If your company doesn’t offer it as a benefit, you can hire individual coaches who are in business for themselves.

Plus, there are plenty of companies — the Bailey Group Minneapolis, Bridges Consulting and DRI Consulting among them — that boast large rosters of coaches from which to choose. Whichever way you go, ask if your coach is trained or perhaps certified with the ICF or a similar group that offers various levels of accreditation.

“ICF Minnesota could be the best place for you to start,” said Sample at Navigate Forward. “They are one of the certifying organizations that works to ensure that people can access qualified coaches.”

Today, she refers her clients to a roster of executive coaches across Minnesota.

“I always recommend to people they find someone who has a methodology, and who has been through some kind of training and certification. That means they’re not just a wise person, they’ve got the benefit of some instruction and some background, and they’ve got context they can go to,” Sample said.

Simermeyer suggests executives ask other executives who they used. Or ask your human resource manager. Then do some research to see if there’s a good match.

“Look at the person’s experience. You want someone who has been where you are or where you are going,” Sample said. “Most of the great coaches have actually walked in their clients’ shoes.”

Wiesman agreed.

You want a coach whose “past performance and areas of expertise match your own,” Wiesman said. The person you ultimately hire should be able to articulate “their own experiences in front of the board room. Their successes. Their failures. You need to be able to ask them about the situation, the task, the action and the results they got in those situations.”

If they are not relatable, that’s a red flag.

To limit future red flags, Simermeyer suggests executives ask a prospective coach for a “chemistry check” — a free 45-minute conversation that will help you decide if she or he is a good fit for you. Many corporations have their rising stars meet with three prospective coaches before picking one.

Be on the lookout for a coach who listens, doesn’t talk too much and who helps you develop ideas rather than prescribing specific fixes, Simermeyer warned. The goal is to help you grow, not to fix all your challenges. A good coach will assign you homework and work through plans with you.

For example, the higher-ups may have allotted you just five staffers to complete a critical process change. If you believe the task really requires 10, the coach can help you build a business case for those extra workers and listen to your presentation.

Her former coach “really had such a huge impact on my ability to perform at a high level. I learned a lot from him about organizational dynamics,” Simermeyer said. “When you get to a senior level, in particular, it can be very helpful to have a confidential, objective third party, who has experience in organizational dynamics, and who can give you advice on how to handle situations. [In senior leadership,] you’re really learning as you go.”