Just like in the world of sports where the best players aren’t always the best coaches, many of the best executive coaches do not necessarily need to be the best ‘players’. There’s a well-documented phenomenon where some of the most legendary sports coaches were not the biggest stars on the field.
Think about Sir Alex Ferguson in football or Phil Jackson in basketball. While both were decent players in their respective sports, their brilliance shone when they transitioned into coaching. The same logic applies in the business world – the most effective executive coaches aren’t necessarily those who reached the very top of the corporate ladder, but rather those who understand leadership from having played the game themselves.
The Coach and Player Analogy
In sports, a coach is expected to lead, guide, and develop their players, but their primary role is to provide perspective, strategy, and insight – not to play the game themselves. The very best coaches are often those who may have spent time on the pitch or the court but who understand the game at a deeper level, often being able to view it through a holistic and strategic lens. The same principle applies in business.
In my opinion, a great executive coach needs to have “played” the game of leadership. This doesn’t mean they were necessarily the CEOs of multinational corporations, but having firsthand experience of managing teams, making decisions under pressure, and navigating complex organisational dynamics is important.
Why Leadership Experience Matters?
While technical skills and management theories can be learned, leadership is deeply tied to lived experiences. There’s also a certain credibility and trust that comes from knowing a coach has walked a mile in the leader’s shoes, which helps more swiftly gain trust and rapport in the coaching relationship. This is fuelled further when appreciating that this lived experience has been built upon through working with other high-performing leaders – layering this experience. Fundamentally, leadership experience equips an executive coach in areas like:
- Contextual Awareness – Understanding the pressures that leaders face, from difficult personnel decisions to navigating organisational politics, allows a coach to guide in a way which is grounded in reality.
- Emotional Intelligence – Having been in leadership roles, coaches develop the soft skills required to manage people. They learn when to push, when to support, and how to help clients unlock their potential.
- Tactical Insights – Many challenges leaders face are tactical – how to improve team performance, handle conflict, or innovate within their industry. Coaches who have been leaders themselves can draw on their personal experiences and cross over into a mentoring role where appropriate to share their own experience when coming to actionable solutions.
- Strategic Thinking – Leaders are often juggling long-term vision with short-term objectives. Executive coaches with leadership experience are better able to guide their clients in making decisions that align with both immediate business goals and future growth.
The Importance of Perspective
Executive coaches often outperform even the most successful corporate executives in one critical area: perspective. While an executive may be focused on their company’s immediate needs or long-term goals, a coach has the unique ability to consider the bigger picture as well as uncovering more specific challenges. They can help with stepping back, evaluating, and providing an objective view of situations, drawing from their leadership experience where appropriate, but not being emotionally tied to the outcomes.
This ability to stay detached allows executive coaches to challenge leaders in ways their peers or direct reports cannot, underpinned by experience not just theory. Much like sports coaches who critique a player’s game to sharpen their skills, executive coaches provide feedback on a leader’s blind spots, performance, and decision-making processes, always with an eye on helping them improve and being focused on outcomes.
Balancing Experience with The Skill of Coaching
Not every great leader will become a great coach, and that’s where coaching skills comes into play. In its purest sense, coaching is not about sharing one’s own experiences or dispensing advice; it requires active listening, asking powerful questions, and facilitating the coachee’s own problem-solving process. However, many executive coaches are able to carefully blend coaching and mentoring to add context and credibility. Leadership experience and excellent coaching expertise is where the true impact lies in executive coaching.
A coach who knows what it’s like to make tough calls as a leader but also understands how to guide others toward self-discovery can be incredibly transformative. They act as a sounding board, offering both the empathy of having been there, and the challenge of pushing their clients beyond their current limitations through great coaching.
Final Thoughts
Leadership, like elite sports, demands constant growth and development. Just as even the most talented athletes benefit from the wisdom of a great coach, so too do executives – especially when their coach can relate to their challenges and are qualified to guide others.
Find out more about executive coaching.
