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© 2006 Dynamic Management Solutions, Inc.
Six Points About Executive Coaching:
An Interview with Michael Shapiro
by Heather Z. Hutchins
Introduction
Coaching is everywhere: personal coaching, coaching for sports
enhancement, executive coaching. With the dawn of the new century,
seeing a coach seems synonymous with having a cell phone or using a
PDA. But, since coaching is such a new profession, few people seem to
understand what kind of personal or educational background makes for a
good coach. And even fewer can explain exactly what a coach does and
why anyone in business might need one.
Michael Shapiro is one of the few. An executive coach with over 20
years of experience working closely with senior management and boards
of directors, he has first-hand experience and an insider's knowledge
of the business world. From this vast experience, he shares the six
most important points about executive coaching.
1. Coaching needs a “right fit” to work
According to Shapiro, president of Dynamic Management Solutions, Inc.,
an executive coach and a potential client need the “right fit” in order
to form a successful coaching alliance.
“A good fit occurs when the communication flows easily between the
client and the coach,” Shapiro says. “Some people might call that a
‘personality fit.’ If clients feel as if they are going to the dentist,
we don't have the right fit.”
Shapiro notes that the right executive coach will do the following:
• Make clients feel comfortable.
• Develop an understanding of the client's potential.
• Show respect for the client's values.
• Create a trusting relationship.
• Be supportive and non-judgmental in helping clients to change.
• Provide a non-threatening place to develop the client-coach dialogue.
“Executive coaching is not about imposing my values on the client,”
Shapiro says. “My goal is to help clients use their own values to
achieve their goals.”
He adds that business coaching is not therapy for the business owner.
“For the most part, psychotherapy is about dealing with issues and
events in the past that affect the present,” Shapiro says. “Executive
coaching is about the present and the future. I work with executives,
business owners and others to help them resolve business issues. We
create a safe working relationship that is respectful, non-judgmental
and centered on the individual's needs, abilities and goals.”
