ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces executive coaching approaches and techniques for working with senior leaders who exhibit ‘unhelpful’ and ‘negative’ behaviors that can lead to dissatisfaction or unhealthy relationships in the organization and outlines approaches for success. Coaching senior leaders with these behaviors requires careful work on the part of the coach to set the stage for a successful engagement. Organizations struggle with senior leaders who are highly effective in some ways and yet destructive to stakeholders and the overall culture. Coaches should only use techniques that they are appropriately trained to deliver and should be experienced in the techniques they use. The theories and models that guide executive coaching for behavior change are generally the same for leaders with a destructive style as they are for most executive coaching cases. A referral to an executive coach for intervening in behavior that has been volatile, emotion-ridden, or inadequate is a high-stakes situation.
