Four Types of Coaches in Organizations
by Dr. Keith E. Webb
July 3, 2007

Coaching happens in organizations at several levels and from different types of coaches. Let's talk about four types of coaches common in organizations.

External Coaches - Sometimes called Executive or Life Coaches, these are expert coaches hired from outside an organization. Advantages include an outside perspective and usually expertise in the field. Disadvantages are that they can be costly and use varying coaching methodologies.

Internal Coaches - These are part-time or full- time coaches within your organization who coach staff who do not directly report to them. They have the same coaching expertise as External Coaches. Advantages include no additional costs (they are already employed by the organization), understand the organizational culture, and knowledge of internal resources. Disadvantages include difficulties establishing credibility and demands from other work roles (unless they coach full-time).

Manager Coaches - These are supervisors who use coaching skills in their interaction with their team. Although they may not have specific coaching sessions, they listen actively, ask powerful questions, allow staff to set action steps, follow-up, etc. Advantages include first-hand experience observing the staff person in action and many regular interactions. Disadvantages stem from the reporting relationship: focus on performance, lack of broader perspective, and inconsistent types of interactions with staff members.

Peer Coaches - These are staff who use coaching skills in their interaction with each other on a regular basis. Listening more than making statements. Using questions to discover rather than arguing their point. Encouraging self-reflection rather than giving critique. People often consult their peers regarding how to apply learning. In this way, Peer coaching is just-in-time learning. Disadvantages come from the friendly nature of peers - lack a truth- telling and the irregularity of coaching interactions.

The value of Manager Coaches and Peer Coaches seem obvious to most organizations. I'm finding real leverage in developing the often overlooked Internal Coaches. Besides providing expert coaching, they become the champions of coaching within the organization and often train others in basic coaching skills.

How About You?

• How does your organization facilitate the use of External coaches?
  
• What would it take to raise up Internal coaches to coach within your organization?
  
• How could you better equip your Managers to coach their staff more successfully?
  
• In what ways are encouraging a broad-based use of coaching skills among all your staff?

-----------------

Copyright © 2007 Keith E. Webb & CRM

Find more coaching articles here.

Editors, publishers & webmasters: You may reprint these articles free of charge if you follow our reprint guidelines.

Dr. Keith E. Webb is a trainer and experienced cross-cultural leadership coach helping organizations, teams, and individuals multiply their cross-cultural impact. Find free articles at http://www.CreativeResultsManagement.com.