How can executive coaches continue to sharpen their skills? Monica McGrath and Jeremy Robinson, academic co-directors of Wharton Executive Coaching Workshop: Building Partnerships To Drive Performance, have created a new assessment tool with colleague Alan Richter. The Coaching Development Assessment Tool (CDAT), which will be offered to participants in the Wharton program for the first time in January, helps assess the strengths and development needs of executive and organization coaches.

"Coaches can use this tool to understand where they are in their development and what they must continue or start to do as part of their professional growth," McGrath said. The assessment also offers additional sections on suggestions that coaches can use to plug into their development needs.

Intergenerational Issues

In addition to the new assessment tool, the Wharton program will also add a new segment on intergenerational coaching. "The issue is how we coach in a multigenerational environment," said McGrath. "Boomers will say: Why don't you want this job that requires working 80 hours a week? They will be shocked that someone turns it down to attend more of their kids' soccer games."

Work-life balance is just one of the areas of differences across generations. Others include:

• Technology: GenXers tend to be more technologically savvy and comfortable with technology, such as instant messaging. They sometimes may be less savvy about the complexities of interpersonal relationships, however.
  
  
• Impatience: Younger employees may be less patient with the internal politics of organizations. "They don't see it as useful," McGrath said.
  
  
• Loyalty: While the Boomers grew up with the belief that the best path to success was to choose a good company and stick with it, GenXers have a different view. After watching their parents go through rounds of layoffs and reorganizations (or experiencing this chaos themselves), younger managers often are more loyal to their own professional development than to a specific organization.

How can managers and their coaches work better across generations? Dialogue and understanding are key to addressing these differences. "Examine your assumptions," McGrath said. "What do you really believe? Whether you are working with an executive in the Boomer generation or a high potential trying to advance, the role of the coach is often to facilitate dialogue between managers of different generations. To do this, coaches first have to examine their own assumptions. What do these assumptions mean for me, and how do they impact other people?"

Through dialogue, different generations can learn to respect their differences. "We need to get older generations and younger generations together to listen to one another. As coaches, we have a responsibility to do this."

Related Courses

• Wharton Executive Coaching Workshop: Building Partnerships To Drive Performance

• Wharton Executive Education
  
  
• The Wharton School

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