Not every coach is an expert in every business challenge. To say, "I am an executive coach is meaningless without answering the question: "Coach who to what?" The following categories help elucidate the different kinds of coaching being practiced today; and help clients select a coach that more closely fits their needs.
Coaching Leaders / Behavioral Coaching
Behavioral coaches focus on helping leaders achieve a positive long-term change in interpersonal behavior. They give advice on how leaders can build better relationships and become more effective in motivating people.
Marshall Goldsmith
Jim Kouzes
Frances Hesselbein
Jay Conger
Dave Ulrich
Barry Posner
Howard Morgan
Ken Siegel
Bobbie Little
Kim Barnes
Career / Life Coaching
Career or life coaching frequently crosses the line between personal coaching and business coaching. Such coaches work on personal growth, career development and life issues that have demonstrable value to the organization.
Richard J. Leider
William Bridges
Beverly Kaye
David Allen
Barbara Moses
Brian Tracy
Shirley Anderson
Joel Garfinkle
Richard Strozzi-Heckler
Marian Baker
Coaching For Leadership Development
As opposed to coaches who help executives become more effective leaders, there are also those coaches who help organizations develop leaders. Such coaches install leadership development programs and systems that ensure an ongoing pipeline of great leaders.
Noel M. Tichy
Robert M. Fulmer
Ken Blanchard
Paul Hersey
Nancy J. Adler
Albert A. Vicere
John Alexander
Jim Bolt
David Giber
Jim Moore
Coaching For Organizational Change
Coaches who focus on organizational change engage in a wide variety of challenges, including the organization's capacity for innovation, its view on strategic diversity, its implementation of a merger or performance improvement agenda, and its ability to execute a new strategy.
Phil Harkins
W. Warner Burke
Sally Helgesen
R. Roosevelt Thomas Jr.
Gifford Pinchot
David Dotlich
Stratford Sherman
Gary Ranker
Leigh Fountain
Bruce Pfau
Strategy Coaching
Strategy coaches work at the most senior levels, helping top executives set the tone for the long-term direction of the organization. Some coaches work primarily with the CEO, others with the senior team, still others with key leaders at lower ranks in the organization.
C.K. Prahalad
Vijay Govindarajan
Christopher A. Bartlett
Fariborz Ghadar
Michael Hammer
Joel Barker
Niko Canner
Julie Anixter
Bill Davidson
Judy Rosenblum
