Helping new execs start right

Executive coaching increases with CEO turnover, like insurance for search firms

The rising number of executives either fired or retired in the past three years is pushing demand for specialists to not only scout but groom new talent.

These so-called "onboard coaches" charge as much as $2,000 an hour to help the newly promoted fire out of the gate rather than fizzle after a few tough board meetings.

The number of CEOs who left their jobs rose 7 percent to 728 in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2005, a record year, according to Chicago-based consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Meanwhile, the number of CEOs who retired in the first eight months of this year was 245, nearly double the same period in 2004, the consultants reported.

At the same time, the International Coach Federation, an association of business coaches, now boasts more than 10,000 members, up from about 1,500 in 1998.

"[Coaching] has become almost an executive insurance policy," said Gerry McDonough, CEO of LeadFirst, an executive coaching firm in Charlotte. "If a candidate washes out in their first year, it's often the search firm that has to find a replacement, at no extra cost. And by that time, there's often irreparable damage. We're there to make sure it doesn't get to that -- that the placement is right from the start."

BB&T, which is seeing more senior managers retire, will spend more than $700,000 this year on coaches, workshops and other training to help successors adjust.

"It's important to provide immediate feedback," said Tim Davis, head of human resources for the Winston-Salem-based bank. "You have to make sure your key executives get up to speed as soon as possible to give the organization its return on human capital."

Kevin McAteer knows about pressure to perform.

"I tell people I'm not a stressed-out guy, but then I get up panicky every morning," said McAteer, who was recently promoted to vice president of sales and marketing at Concord Hospitality in Raleigh. "It's kind of like you don't want to let your dad down."

To hit the ground running, McAteer worked closely this year with Pam Boney, co-owner of Executive Suite Coaching in Raleigh.

Boney helps new executives set sales goals, build management teams, identify talent, spot dissenters and understand and fix personality defects. Sessions usually include a "360-degree analysis," or a rigorous and very often humbling review from bosses, peers and subordinates.

Starting a new job is one of the most high-risk periods in an executive's career, said Boney. "They need to get the lay of the land," she said. "You usually have about 90 days to make an impression that will live with the executive for years to come."

McDonough of LeadFirst agrees and adds that the process of getting clients on the right path requires tough love and is not for the faint of heart.

"We see the full range of emotions, from anger to tears to frustration to disbelief in the process to people who conclude they're climbing a ladder propped up against the wrong building," McDonough said.

He and other coaches have witnessed clients burst into tears, scream, confide about children on drugs and admit to marital infidelities. Much of this often follows the review process.

Sherry Essig of Priority Ventures often works with female bosses as they adjust to sometimes aggressive, male-dominated corporate environments.

That's difficult because you are who you are, Essig said. "You don't go to work and leave who you are at home."

Other coaches specialize in bosses with communication or anger problems, people who, though skilled in the technical dimensions of their jobs, are naive, aggressive or toxic toward others.

"There are a lot of technically competent people out there who never learned how to lead," said McDonough. "One CFO once licked his fingers at a fine restaurant. Think if he did that in front of analysts, or a group directors."

And at the end of the day, working with others is what separates true leaders from mere bosses, said Hillsborough mayor and executive coach Tom Stevens.

"It really is about human beings," Stevens said. "Most of the value you contribute comes through relationships. That's why coaching people to deal effectively with others is so important."