The Role of an Anchor Coach

There has never been a greater need for an executive Coach than now. The world continues to be in a BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear and Incomprehensible) context. Pressure on leaders continues to be high. The luxury of pausing and marinating in one’s own thoughts is something only a few can afford. Thus, having a coach who acts as a catalyst can prove to be of very high value. An executive coach can act as a key value multiplier for a leader.

The executive coaching industry – expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.6% – will be worth an estimated $27.5 billion by 2026. And while the popularity of coaching continues to grow, so does the evidence supporting its efficacy. For example, Harvard Business Review research concludes that coaching boosts productivity by 44%, while an ICF-commissioned study claims that coaching clients report a median ROI of 788%.

On the other hand, when we look at Executive Coaches – they bring the skill and ability to listen deeply, notice subtle nuances and help the leader uncover key leavers in him/herself and unlock them. Without going into domain expertise, there are “specializations” that each coach will have. By specialization we mean deep understanding of some behavioral and leadership traits based on the coaches body of work and experience. Therefore, based on the leadership behavior identified by and for a Leader, a Coach can be shortlisted.

For example, if the leader needs support in developing a more emotionally intelligent style, matching with an executive Coach who has extensive experience of working in that area will allow for the coach to be more incisive with his/her questions. We are not suggesting mentoring – we are suggesting depth of listening and questions based on deep experience in an area.

However, what if the behaviors identified are so disparate that the best choice when “matching” leads us to different coaches?

This is where the role of an Anchor Coach comes in. An Anchor Coach is the main coach who not only anchors the discovery and development for a leader but also brings in additional specialist coaches depending on the area of support a leader needs. The anchor coach is usually a senior Executive Coach with a broad leadership and experience skill set.

Consider what a ship’s Anchor does – it provides stability in rough weather, it provides grounding, it provides the ability to stop or pause. A lot of the work is done by the chain of the anchor. Together they are able to provide stability to a large ship, brave through troubling waters and enable the ship reach its destination successfully.

Similarly the Anchor Coach acts like the Anchor, the specialist coaches act like the chain; and together they bring success and longevity to leaders.

Through a proprietary framework we match coaches to leadership behaviors they are best placed to change. These act as specialist coaches while working alongside an Anchor Coach. To learn more about our Anchor Coaching framework, feel free to reach out!