Stanford Executive Coaching Study Reveals Most CEOs Want Coaching!

Good news for those of us in the Executive Coaching world!

The folks over at Stanford Graduate School of Business in the Center for Leadership Development and Research joined with Stanford University’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance surveyed over 200 CEOs, board directors, and senior executives in North America.  The research set out to determine what kind of leadership advice CEOs and their top executives are seeking.

What’s shocking is that nearly 66% of CEOs do not yet receive coaching from external coaches, which means there is a huge opportunity for those coaches who know how to Seal the Deal!

Below is an excerpt from the Stanford news release about the study, and you can read the full article at their site here:

Nearly Two-Thirds of CEOs Do Not Receive Outside Leadership Advice – But Nearly All Want It.
“Lonely at the top” resonates for most CEOs.  
STANFORD, CA – July 31, 2013 – “It’s lonely at the top” appears to be truer than ever, according to a new study conducted by the Center for Leadership Development and Research at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford University’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance, and The Miles Group. Nearly two-thirds of CEOs do not receive coaching or leadership advice from outside consultants or coaches, and almost half of senior executives are not receiving any either, the survey reveals.
“Given how vitally important it is for the CEO to be getting the best possible counsel, independent of their board, in order to maintain the health of the corporation, it’s concerning that so many of them are ‘going it alone,’” says Stephen Miles, CEO of The Miles Group. “Even the best-of-the-best CEOs have their blind spots and can dramatically improve their performance with an outside perspective weighing in.”
Key findings from the survey include:  Shortage of advice at the top – Nearly 66% of CEOs do not receive coaching or leadership advice from outside consultants or coaches, while 100% of them stated that they are receptive to making changes based on feedback. Nearly 80% of directors said that their CEO is receptive to coaching.

• CEOs are the ones looking to be coached – When asked “Whose decision was it for you to receive coaching?” 78% of CEOs said it was their own idea.
• Coaching “progress” is largely kept private – More than 60% of CEOs responded that the progress they are making in their coaching sessions is kept between themselves and their coach; only a third said that this information is shared with the board of directors.
• How to handle conflict ranks as highest area of concern for CEOs – When asked which is the biggest area for their own personal development, nearly 43% of CEOs rated “conflict management skills” the highest. ‘Stakeholder overload’ is a real burden for today’s CEO, who must deftly learn how to negotiate often conflicting agendas.
• Boards eager for CEOs to improve talent development – The top two areas board directors say their CEOs need to work on are “mentoring skills/developing internal talent” and “sharing leadership/delegation skills.”
• Top areas that CEOs use coaching to improve: sharing leadership/delegation, conflict management, team building, and mentoring. Bottom of the list: motivational skills, compassion/empathy, and persuasion skills.

You can download a PDF of the Stanford 2013-ExecutiveCoachingSurvey results here.

If you are an executive coach who is not yet taking advantage of this huge opportunity to coach CEOs and senior executives, it’s not too late to learn how to Seal the Deal (best selling book by Suzi Pomerantz) so you can have the impact that you know you can have as a coach!