Many years ago I was interviewed for a book about coaching that as far as I know, never came to fruition. I trust the interview will prove helpful to those wondering about the possible impact of executive coaching on their organization, what makes a great coach, and questions a prospective client should ask before hiring an executive coach.

I hope it brings you value.

From your perspective, why is coaching important?

Coaching isn’t just important, it’s downright critical because it’s a tool that can be used to bring employees from good to great,  from great to consistently great, and high-potential employees from merely great to achieving breakthrough results. It can also help save people’s careers. So important? I’d say so.

What is the best advice you received when you began coaching?

Follow your coach’s intuition, be mindful not to fall into consulting, and accept that your clients don’t need our answers. They have the answers. They just need their coach to help them unearth them.

How do your clients define success?

They all have different definitions. For many of my clients, however, it’s about being an inspiring leader, who has passionate followers who are highly motivated to follow the leader to achieve organizational goals.
What is your personal strategy for achieving the greatest results?

Believe in my clients’ enormous greatness and potential, encourage them to set challenging goals, and on the practical side, connect goals to action steps that have deadlines.

What do you believe to be a coach’s most important job?

To help empower one’s clients to remove whatever is blocking them from achieving their potential, thereby helping them achieve organizational, career and personal goals.

Share a list of things that you believe defines a great coach?

So many things: Strong training, a proven methodology to guide the coaching process, a belief in our clients’ greatness and acceptance that their journeys are valid, confidence in our coaching skills and intuition, and the ability to self-coach, before, during and after a coaching session.

What is your favorite success story?

I was retained by a CEO with an up-or-out situation. One of his senior-most executives brought many powerful skills, but had some critical leadership shortfalls. If she couldn’t improve in these areas, I sensed that she might likely be let go, but if she could improve, with my help, she would be promoted. She’s now the organization’s president. Does it get any better than that?

What interview questions would you recommend for clients to ask when considering hiring a coach?

Tell me about your coaching style. What are some reasonable goals I could achieve if we worked together?  Would your past and/or current clients be willing to act as references?  Please share about how you’ve helped executives facing similar situations to mine. What training and certification do you have? 

What are your educational, experience, and training qualifications?

I spent 25+ years in management and leadership of public relations agencies, so obviously did lots of team and individual coaching. When I was in the PR industry, I founded an agency training program.

In 2007, I launched a consultancy offering training and consulting to PR and communications agencies, and executive-leadership coaching to PR leaders and executives.  I excelled at consulting, and got repeat client business, loved the training, and felt that coaching was my true calling.

I then did intensive coaching training at the Institute for Professional Excellence In Coaching (iPEC), and earned credentials as an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) from the International Coach Federation (ICF), and Certified Professional Coach (CPC) and Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner from iPEC.  Since that time, I’ve been credentialed by iPEC as a COR.e Leadership Dynamics Specialist (CLDS).

What makes you unique and what are the benefits of working with you as a coach?

I believe a few things make me unique as a coach: I work primarily with CEOs, owners, presidents, senior executives and other leaders from the worlds of public relations, communications, advertising and marketing.  Because I grew up in PR agency management and leadership,  I understand their worlds and speak their language. I’ve studied and written about leadership for years. Because of my practical approach, I help clients make the connection between coaching and real-world achievement. Finally, I’m a highly empathetic coach, whose clients feel that I both challenge and cheer-lead them for their benefit.

What can coaching do for me or my organization? 

I’d love to explore that with you. If you’re curious about this, please contact me at ken@jacobscomm.com