A Coach for Your Career

Association executives can be motivated and highly skilled - and yet still stuck in a rut. Here's how two executives used coaches to get their careers in tip-top shape.

Coaching has quickly become one of the leading resources people use to transform their lives from disappointing or merely successful to extraordinary.

From senior executives to up-and-comers, people who hire coaches are learning how to set better goals for themselves, increase self-awareness, improve performance, and develop strategies that improve their overall quality of life.

The relationship between coach and client is based on the premise that nothing is broken or wrong or needs to be fixed - coaches are not therapists. Coaches do help clients discover what is most important in their lives, but they do so primarily by looking at the present and the future, rather than by placing a heavy emphasis on the past. From this discovery, coaches assist in developing action plans to help clients create a better future for themselves. However, while a coach may be able to show the client a window, it's up to the client to look through it. Coaches will try to hold clients accountable, but in the end clients are accountable only to themselves. If a client is willing to work hard and think critically, then a coach can help bring clarity.

"Executives and professionals inside and outside association management have found that having a career coach can make an enormous difference in getting what they want faster, with less hassle and more enjoyment," says Richard S. Gibson, Ed.D., CAE, president of Your Own Coach. The following two cases are examples of how nonprofit executives have used coaches to bring focus to their careers and lives.

Coach as Co-pilot
Charlene Neu was most recently director, legislative field operations for the National Treasury Employees Union, a Washington, DC-based union for federal employees, though she has since moved on to seek other opportunities. Had she never had a coach, she says she would be "in a very unhappy, unfulfilled place."

It couldn't be that bad, could it? Actually, according to her coach, Kevin Nourse, principal of Leap Advocates, Neu is an example of the ideal coaching client. "Charlene is a powerful client, which makes my job as a coach easier," says Nourse. She "brings powerful enthusiasm and excitement to the coaching relationship."

Neu is not afraid to work hard and is driven to excel. She likely would succeed - as most people measure it - with or without a coach. So why pay someone and invest time in such a relationship? "I think anyone - and everyone - should work with a coach," Neu says. "Coaches provide advice, counsel, assessments, and methods to change and enhance things in our lives." For Neu, coaching clearly has enabled her to be sure rather than unsure, in control rather than chaotic, and focused rather than adrift. The hard work and drive would lead to success; the coaching has enabled her to focus those things so that her success enriches her life.

Neu sought a coach after reading an article in the Washington Post on the subject that reinforced work she had done in a graduate course. "I had decided that I wanted to pursue new career opportunities and needed some assistance to determine what I wanted to do and how I was going to get there."

Neu and Nourse wasted little time before working on the task. "My first session with Kevin [in August 2002] involved a two-hour assessment of my career and personal goals. He explored my vision; we developed a plan, charts, and work assignments. Kevin also recommended - and let me borrow - a few books on resume writing."

One of the early discoveries Neu made was that traits she thought of as weaknesses, including focus, organization, and determination, were actually strengths that she could depend on.

Nourse has coached Neu for about six months. The two meet for an hour twice each month and communicate by e-mail and phone during other times. They discuss what Neu accomplished over the previous two weeks, what new challenges she faced, and how it all fits in with her overall objectives. The relationship is very practical, setting specific goals, developing strategies to meet those goals, measuring attainment, and then setting new goals.

"I think Kevin has devised strategies and ways of dealing with my challenges that are very effective," notes Neu. "He takes into account my need to talk, to explain, and to conceptualize, and then he helps me to focus on ways to get these things done… He reminds me to keep in focus, that there will be down days, and that I won't always get what I want. And he makes me work, even if I don't want to."

So where has the coaching relationship gotten Neu?

"Charlene seems much more focused, centered, and organized, which seems to be having a wonderful impact on her ability to realize hr dreams," says Nourse. "She has risen above her existing job role with a much more strategic focus and intent as she gains momentum in her career/life transition. She's better able to manage the negative messages that used to block her."

For her part, Neu says she is a new person. "He makes me believe that my dreams can become reality," she says, "in both the personal and professional sense. He has helped me on my journey, and for that I am extremely grateful."

Coach as Transition Agent
Eileen Denne is vice president of communications at the American Society of Travel Agents, a trade association based in Alexandria, Virginia - a job she found, at least in part, as a result of her experience being coached by Richard S. Gibson, Ed.D., CAE.

Like Neu, Denne is an ideal example of someone who will benefit the most from coaching. "I have always been committed to my own personal and professional development, and I constantly look for ways to improve my management and leadership skills and those of others," she says. "Continuously learning and doing new things are very important to me. Coaching helped me learn and grow at an accelerated rate." For Denne, motivation wasn't a problem. What she needed was a fresh perspective to see opportunities she didn't know could be open to her.

"In our very first session, in our first year, she was very clear she was going to be successful at 'having it all,'" says Gibson. "She wanted coaching not only on job and career change but also on balancing being a great wife, mother, friend to many, and expanding her executive skill set on her current job. She stuck to those commitments throughout our work together."

Denne was Gibson's client for three years. She was very familiar with Gibson's work since her husband, Steve Denne, had been a client of Gibson's for about a year before she started. This created an interesting dynamic where husband and wife were being advised by the same coach. Eileen Denne says the experience was rewarding. "Since Steve and I were being coached at the same time for several years," she notes, "we often shared coaching conversations and learned from each other. When discussing work and family challenges, one of us might ask the other, 'What would Dick say?'"

Denne and Gibson held 30-minute "coaching calls" almost every week for three years. As with Neu's experience, these coaching sessions combined practical strategies with an overall outlook. Denne listed accomplishments of the previous week, went over what was still left to do, described upcoming challenges and opportunities, and discussed specific goals for the next week.

With Gibson's coaching, Denne worked to achieve her CAE credential and ultimately found a position she finds challenging and fulfilling. But it was rocky for a while. "There was a time when the market seemed dry of good positions for Eileen," says Gibson. "I remember wondering if I was coaching her properly. I knew she was doing the legwork. I remember thinking that my job was to be a cheerleader then, and that the right job may just take a little more time to come along."

He says that coaching shifted from the "nuts and bolts of doing a successful job change" to finding what he describes as the "hidden job market," which is discovered through networking and thinking creatively.

The job change itself is just the most concrete objective measure of the relationship. Likely more important to Denne are all the lessons that came along the way. She relearned the management lessons that all successful people learn: delegation, making decisions, the right type and amount of communication. However, with Gibson coaching her, it wasn't just learning lessons; it was putting those lessons into practice with strategies and goals each week.

"I learned to create a vision of how things can be and to act on it," says Denne. "I learned to be very intentional in communications: committed to action, making requests, and then checking back on results."

As with Neu's experience, Denne's coaching experience reached beyond her professional career and into her entire outlook and approach to life. "I benefited most from learning that I always have a choice in how I see myself and how I interpret communication with and the behavior of others," she says. "This applies not only to my professional life but also to my family. The coaching was a constant reminder that I am responsible for my happiness on the job and at home."

Is Coaching Right for You?
Coaching can be a life-changing experience. But like most things in life, this is only true if you are willing to work hard at it. If "good enough" is good enough for you, then a coach will not make the dramatic impact in your life that Nourse is making on Neu's or that Gibson made on Denne. A good coach acts like a prism. He or she takes all the attributes a person has to offer and focuses them on a single goal.

However, as Denne points out, the coaching relationship isn't always easy - and it's not meant to be. One of the reasons they're called coaches is that they not only know when to cheer someone on but when that person needs a shove, too. "No one wants to hear that they're not willing to change," says Denne, "or that they aren't working hard enough to achieve their goals. But that's why a coach is great. You invest in this person to tell you what's best for you to help you break out of old patterns of behavior. Coaches can point out when you're resisting things and get to the bottom of why you might be holding on to bad habits."

Marshall Brown, a certified career and executive coach has always had a passion for helping people find ways to live more fulfilling lives. As a coach, Brown helps individuals to find their passions and encourages them to move ahead in reaching their goals. His book, High Level Resumes, reflects his successful work with hundreds of job candidates. Reach him at marshall@mbrownassociates.com.

Ask the Coach addresses questions and concerns of assn professionals about their careers. Send your questions to marshall@mbrownassociates.com.

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