Business schools step up executive coaching

Professional training has been good for Alejandra Badilla, as it has helped her accelerate an already rapid rise. The 36-year-old Chilean, who will complete her Executive MBA at the University of Madrid IE Business School Late this year, he began monthly training sessions in Microsoft Teams six months into the course. Shortly after, she was promoted to a director position at the Chubb insurance company, where she managed a $100 million client base.

“I think everyone needs a coach, always, because life is constantly changing,” says Badilla, who changed careers a few years ago, having originally trained as a physiotherapist. He also has experience in the healthcare and financial sectors and converted to coaching long before starting at IE. “For me, it’s like a religion.”

EMBA providers increasingly emphasize the importance of executive coaching. According to 2023 research by the Executive MBA Council (EMBAC), a network of schools, more than 87 percent of its member programs offered a coaching service, up from 58 percent in 2011.

Future students also demand training. Tomorrow’s MBA’s most recent study, conducted by higher education consultancy CarringtonCrisp and the European Foundation for Management Development, found that executive coaching was the second most in-demand career development service for prospective EMBA candidates, behind only tutorial.

Randall Peterson, professor and academic director of the Leadership Institute of London Business Schoolwas involved in the decision to increase coaching for LBS EMBA students six years ago. The change was driven by the reality that coaching was, even then, a standard for senior executives.

“The logic. . . “The reason is that these students didn’t have much experience in it, so let’s get them used to the idea that coaching accelerates their careers,” Peterson says.

He adds that it was also important to differentiate coaching practices from other forms of professional support in the students’ minds. “We wanted to show that it’s not therapy and it’s not tutoring, in the sense that they’re not going to tell you to do X and Y,” Peterson says. “What coaching does is support your thinking about where you want to go and how you want to get there.”

Training EMBA students “presents unique challenges” because they study while holding often high-level, full-time jobs and balancing competing demands on their time, says Sarah Langslow, executive coach and author of Worry about the small things. But, he adds, it can also be the best time to get advice.

“We can work on your leadership, communication, influence, executive presence, etc. in the context of your work environment, not just your MBA class environment,” Langslow says. “Live challenge coaching allows for direct challenge and support, and the opportunity to follow up to explore the impact of your changes in behavior and approach.”

Few business schools hire coaches as staff members and generally prefer to use independent professionals. Sue Ann Gonis, a former Los Angeles-based business executive and certified coach since 2008, supports Executive MBA students in the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Gonis says he can relate to EMBA candidates who often hold high-level positions and are looking to move into other sectors or professions “because I’ve made a career change.”

His services are also in demand when Michigan Ross students come to Los Angeles, where he teaches workshops with the group and follows up with Zoom calls.

Christoph Kiegler experienced private coaching before his Global Executive MBA in Barcelona IESE Business Schoolhaving hired a coach to support his promotion to partner at KPMG, his employer for more than 20 years.

He and the approximately 40 GEMBA program participants were offered four executive coaching sessions as part of the leadership element of the course.

Kiegler says he greatly valued these interactions, especially because Iese was able to pair him with a fellow German-speaking coach. But he adds that those who want to fully benefit from the process should continue after graduating, something that Iese also offers.

Coaching supports your thinking about where you want to go and how you want to get there.

“As a senior executive, the only way to grow is through self-reflection, [but] Having four sessions with the coach is not enough to reach something very concrete,” he says.

Kiegler admits, however, that since GEMBA he has not used an executive coach and blames the demands on his time. “It’s like sports: I know I should do it because it’s good for me,” he says, adding that he also has a hard time finding time for those activities.

The coaching process involves more work than just the time spent in individual sessions. Alejandra Badilla’s coach at IE Business School recommended self-help books for her to read, worked with her to discover aspects of her character that could help her achieve her professional goals, and helped her with strategies to capitalize on her personal strengths.

“If you don’t have the ‘mirror’ that asks you all the time who sees your best abilities, you won’t know what you can do best,” says Badilla. “I have some friends, older than me, who always had a coach and are successful people. On the other hand, I have friends who are not open to that experience and have been doing the same thing. [job] for the last 10 years.”