1 My colleague Rob Schachter says, “Take the bull by the horns and then hand it back to them.” This applies to those delicate situations that call for both bold initiative and following a client’s lead simultaneously.

2 Self-differentiation was defined by Murray Bowen and later used by Edwin Friedman. I give it only the barest definition here. For an accessible introduction to the journey of self-differentiation, see Friedman (1985) and Kerr and Bowen (1988).

3 One path that can lead to greater mastery is called “family-of-origin” work. Since it is a developmental therapeutic process, it is beyond the scope of this book. For those interested in this topic, see Gilbert (1992) and Richardson (1984). For a related resource with the distinctive exploration of personal authority, see Williamson (1991).

4 The interplay of order and chaos and the experience of ambiguity and confusion mentioned here give a cursory explanation of an approach to organizations that is informed by the new science in biology and physics. For an accessible introduction, see Wheatley (1992).

5 See note 3. For brain research on reactivity, see Goleman (1995).

6 If you are interested in being trained to recognize and use moments of immediacy, the Leadership Institute of Seattle provides that training in its seminar entitled, “InterAct: Quality Workplace Relations.” For more information, go to www.lios.org.

1 I am fortunate to have been colleagues with the faculty members at the Leadership Institute of Seattle/Bastyr University who are practitioners in the fields of consulting and coaching, as well as systems counseling. In their work, they also use many of the key systems theory assumptions I bring to coaching and successful change efforts. Two other significant conversation partners regarding this theory have been consultant colleagues Rob Schachter and Roger Taylor.

2 I use the terms interactional force field and social interactional field because they are conducive to a work environment. The actual term used in the discipline of family systems is emotional field. For a more in-depth exposition on the term, see Kerr and Bowen (1988).

3 See note 3 in Chapter Two.

4 My introduction to pattern thinking was through Ronald Short (1985a, 1985b), a former director of the Leadership Institute of Seattle. Short studied with Salvador Minuchin (1974) and found a way to apply Minuchin’s structural systems thinking to organizations.

1 These questions and others that can help coaches better understand patterns are listed in Appendix C.

2 A current boundary issue between an organization and other systems that is gaining in importance is the amount of time increasingly expected from middle- and upper-level leaders to do their jobs. There is a corporate cultural expectation that community and family boundaries will be routinely violated for the sake of the organization’s increased demand on leaders’ time. Some corporate systems are creating a new class of indentured servant—highly paid, time-starved executives, whose time is not their own, who work six or seven days a week, while personal pursuits with family, community, and individual rejuvenation get what little is left over of the executive’s energy and time. This is a formidable, large-scale societal pattern. Executive coaches can help clients recognize and face this boundary issue, see how they play into it, and make decisions to create healthy boundaries among all the systems of which they are members, while they work for increased skill and effectiveness in their positions. Facing and changing these boundary issues is daunting because of external and internal systemic resistance.

3 Conner (1998) follows up his change management approach by describing the nimble organization and what it takes to get there.

1 I use a guiding motto for each of the phases, which are the chapter subtitles in the chapters addressing the phases.

2 For an excellent introduction to action research, see Block (1981). Dotlich and Cairo (1999) present another coaching approach that draws from the stages of action research in broad strokes. Readers may note that explicit mention of data collection, one of the steps in action research, seems to be missing from the coaching phases. Actually it is embedded in all four. A coach’s direct experience with leaders provides this information as they go through these phases. That is why it is instructive to observe leaders and their interactions with team members within their work settings (see Chapter Seven). In a sense, I collect information on how leaders collect data and receive feedback about themselves and their business issues.

3 These are some of the listening skills that Carkhuff (1969), drawing from Carl Rogers, defines as crucial to helping clients solve their own problems. Carkhuff’s technical definitions of these skills differ from typical cultural use, particularly for confrontation and respect.

4 Three resources for assisting clients in goal setting are Hargrove (1995), Craig (2006), and Schaffer (2002). Hargrove discusses the use of breakthrough thinking to achieve “stretch goals.” Craig discusses “backplanning” as a way to ensure that goal setting is strategic and outcome based in a way that instills an organizationwide urgency to achieve results. Schaffer talks about avoiding the “five fatal flaws” in setting up a coaching contract as a way to ensure that both the client and the consultant are focused on bottom-line results, with the client taking responsibility for the outcome.

5 The Executive Coach Training Seminar Series explores in depth the methodology of working with the Three Key Factors when coaching executives. For more information, go to www.mboExecutiveCoaching.com.

6 The story of Anne and the development of her Three Key Factors is excerpted and revised from O’Neill (2005).

1 David Schnarch is a marriage and sex therapist. His book (both highly theoretical and graphic) is written for couples’ personal use. But his descriptions of the dynamics of anxiety, reactivity, resilience, and differentiation are some of the best available in the field of systems theory.

1 For a concise study that includes different approaches to measuring the impact of executive coaching see McGovern and others (2001). Those with responsibility for the HR function who want to contribute more to identifying process and human capital ROI, see Fitz-enz (2000).

2 Why do I prefer benefit-cost ratio? A ratio is easier to grasp and visualize (“Oh, I got ten times more out of this project than I paid into it. That’s great!”). ROI that is expressed as a percentage requires an extra mental calculation to determine, relatively, how much was paid out compared to what was received. For a more in-depth explanation regarding how to choose the best formula to use, see note 5 in this chapter.

3 Anderson (2003) recommends that the coach ask the client to assign a percentage of confidence for her estimate when linking the bottom-line results to any human performance intervention. You can multiply the actual impact by this percentage.

4 Anderson and Anderson (2005) list ways to isolate and identify effects, such as control groups. You could also compare Anne’s performance this year to her performance in a previous year (as you recall, she brought in 10 percent more revenue than the year before). You can see that the 6 percent difference from the next best peer’s team in the same year is the more conservative number.

5 I did not include fully loaded costs (for example, percentage of team salaries, benefits). I have found that some clients are actually less swayed by fully loaded costs than by the cost of the coaching contract itself. Therefore, I offer the following perspective to add flexibility to your conversations with clients about their financial return on executive coaching.

1 For further resources, see Lippitt and Lippitt (1986), Schein (1987, 1988), Bunker and Alban (1997), and Weisbord (1987).