Should I seek a professional coach from outside my organization?
Clients[MM1] deciding whether to use an internal resource or external professional coach should seriously consider the risks of using someone employed inside their own organization. An internal coach’s loyalty is divided between the client and the organization. Their first loyalty is nearly always to their employer.
The potential conflicts of interests are considerable. Effective coaching focuses on a whole person. There will be personal topics relevant to the desired goals that are best not discussed with someone inside the client’s organization.
Who knows what might need to be unraveled to discern the underlying dynamics contributing to a particular goal? A coaching client needs as much freedom as possible to explore whatever they feel would be beneficial. Coaching that does not get deeply personal is rarely effective.
An external coach has greater flexibility to support a client than an internal coach. For example, career planning is almost always an important topic. Does the client fit their current role and organization? Would a different job or organization be a better fit? These are difficult (and even dangerous) questions to explore freely with internal coaching resources or your manager.
Discussing how well a job and organization fit a client provides a goldmine of information for the coach and client. If the coach is biased towards keeping a client in their current job, the coaching won’t work. Interestingly, organizations and sponsors of coaching who embrace an open approach to exploring careers, are the kind of organizations and managers most clients want to work for. Rarely will these clients choose a new position outside the organization. It is much more likely they will move up to a higher-level position.
“If I were getting coaching, I would want a coach outside my organization. The confidentiality issues are just too risky.
In one of my senior management roles, one of my departments was particularly challenging. My boss, the COO, decided to engage a coach to help. It did not turn out well.
The coach’s psychological training had not prepared her for how organizational politics work. As a student and as a consultant, they had never worked in any large organization. They had never held a senior management position.
Not only did the coaching not help, but the coach created an additional challenge for me: they reported things I shared in confidence back to my manager. I would never want this to happen with one of my clients.”
~ Coach Tim