Psychological Skills and Executive Coaching

Executive coaching has only recently emerged as a professional field. As such, researchers, scholars, and practitioners share little agreement about whether executive coaching is more about learning or about facilitating change. Whatever the case, most would agree that executive coaching requires “a certain level of psychological skill and competence [in order for the coach] to operate effectively across a wide range of assignments likely to come their way” (Bluckert, 2005, p. 171). Among the skills identified to increase success in the field are listening, empathy, patience, being non-judgmental, and the ability to solve problems. After completing this week’s reading, address the following questions: Can anyone with the ability to lead learn to be an Executive Coach? Would a trained psychologist make a better Executive Coach? Why or why not? What is the connection between psychological-mindfulness and executive coaching?