An analysis of the perceptions of a group of external executive coaches on the key coaching attributes and skills required to facilitate a successful one-to-one coaching partnership within a business context

The growth of executive coaching has continued to increase despite difficult economic circumstances post-2008 and belief in the process appears to be at an all-time high with annual revenue reaching $2 billion globally (ICF, 2012). The realisation that professional life can be both mentally and psychologically challenging, particularly at executive level, has placed coaching practice under the spotlight. Organisations are becoming increasingly intrigued by what executive coaching can offer yet they require tangible evidence of what influences the process and what contributes to success. Much of the literature has focused on outcome from the perspective of the executive and on coaching theory which is noted as being somewhat limited up to the year 2000 (Grant, et al., 2010). From 2000 to 2009 there was a 4.5 fold increase in research (CIPD, 2012) but focus has generally remained within the confines of coaching theory and the self-evaluation of the executive. While self-evaluation studies are relevant, they can be considered somewhat unreliable and in addition, little attention has been paid to the underlying influences that lead to these outcomes. There has also been a ‘burgeoning of new ideas in the coaching orbit’ (Ives, 2008) when it comes to coaching models which has created a need for these approaches to be analysed and challenged. Even more importantly, little attention has been paid to the third side of the ‘coaching triangle’ Freas & Sherman (2004), the coach, who could be considered the driving force of the process. The views of the coach could provide insights that may be supplemented to existing findings in order to create a more holistic view of executive coaching and what impacts success. This study will first attempt to establish where exactly current research lies on the subject of what influences success in executive coaching. In addition to this, a qualitative study on the views of six executive coaches on the impact of coach-oriented factors such as knowledge of psychotherapy, business knowledge, coaching methods and coach attributes will be conducted. Comparisons will then be drawn between themes identified in existing literature and the findings of this study in order to draw conclusions and make recommendations on where research should focus its attention in the future